Indonesia train crash toll rises to 14 as rescuers complete evacuation
By Stanley Widianto
JAKARTA, April 28 (Reuters) – The death toll in a train collision near Indonesia’s capital Jakarta has risen to 14 and 84 people were injured, the train operator said on Tuesday, as rescue teams completed their efforts to save those trapped in the wreckage.
The collision between a commuter train and a long-distance train occurred late Monday in Bekasi, just outside Jakarta.
Bobby Rasyidin, general manager of Indonesian state railway company PT KAI, said the death toll had risen to 14.
Mohammad Syafii, head of Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, said on Tuesday that the evacuation had been completed, adding that rescuing trapped passengers from smashed wagons was a delicate process.
“We needed to involve personnel with certain skills to carry out a measured rescue,” he said, adding that there were no more passengers to be found, but that rescuers would take action if they found body parts as they continued to comb through the wreckage.
The phaeton carrying the women bore the biggest blow of the accident. Syafii said the victims were all women and most were pinned down with crushed metal.
Before disabling the trains, rescuers were seen using angle grinders to cut the metal in the compartments and reach the survivors.
Bobby had said at a previous press conference that the commuter train first collided with a taxi on the tracks, and then was hit by the long-distance train.
Taxi operator Green SM Indonesia said on Instagram that the taxi involved in the accident was part of its fleet. He said he sent information to authorities to assist in the investigation.
Green SM Indonesia is the Indonesian branch of Vietnamese electric vehicle taxi operator Green and Smart Mobility JSC, a subsidiary of Vingroup.
PRESIDENT PRABOWO ORDER TO INVESTIGATE
After visiting a hospital in Bekasi, President Prabowo Subianto said he had agreed to build an overpass near train tracks to help relieve heavy traffic congestion and that authorities would investigate the collision. He said much of the train network was not well maintained.
Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) is investigating the accident.
Rescuers and people flocked to the train station on Tuesday, some searching for relatives.
One of the passengers, Heriyati, said that she initially planned to use the women-only carriage, but preferred the rear carriage. She was talking to her husband on the phone and asking him to pick her up at the station when the collision occurred.
“I hadn’t even finished the search and the trains collided,” he said.
Commuter trains are some of the busiest in Jakarta, the world’s most populous city. On Tuesday, PT KAI said many suburban train services were interrupted due to the accident.
Ground transportation accidents are common in Indonesia. In 2024, four people died and dozens were injured in the train accident that occurred in West Java province.
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto, Willy Kurniawan and Tri Iswanto; Editing by John Mair and David Stanway)
