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PETARUKAN, Indonesia | Fri Oct 1, 2010 10:47pm EDT
Gusti Dara/Reuters Police and residents evacuated a body from the wreckage of two trains that collided in Pemalang, on the north coast of central Java, on Saturday.
PETARUKAN, Indonesia (Reuters) - Dozens of people were killed or badly injured when two trains collided in Indonesia's central Java province early Saturday morning, officials told Reuters. Local television showed several carriages had overturned or were badly mangled. Rescue and transport ministry officials put the death toll at around 22 to 23 with many more injured, while local news agency Antara said 33 people had been killed in the crash.
Indonesia needs to spend billions of dollars on improving its aging infrastructure, including roads, power plants, railways, and airports. Underinvestment in the years since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis has resulted in several accidents in the transport sector, and has hampered economic development, with the result that Indonesia's GDP growth is well below potential and lags that of China and India.
The accident happened about 0245 am local time (1945 GMT Friday) in Petarukan train station, Pemalang, on the north coast of entral Java. Hengky Susilo Hadi, head of a local search and rescue unit, told Reuters that 22 people had died, and 19 others were badly injured. "It is possible there are additional victims," still trapped inside the wreckage, he said.
Sugeng Priyono, spokesman for the national railway PT Kereta Api Indonesia, said that the Argo Bromo Anggrek train was traveling from Jakarta to the East Java provincial capital city of Surabaya, when it plowed into the stationary Senja Utama train before dawn. "The Petarukan station is where double tracks change to a single track. Initial report is that the Argo Bromo Anggrek train had not yet been given permission to go ahead when it hit the other train. However, this is still under investigation, so there could be other causes."
(Reporting by Awan Negus Takari in Petarukan, and Telly Nathalia and Karima Anjani in Jakarta; Writing by Sara Webb; Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)
Dozens Killed In Indonesia Train Crash
3:26pm Saturday October 02, 2010 Hazel Baker
At least 36 people have died and dozens more have been injured after a night train ploughed into parked carriages at a railway station in central Indonesia.
Rescuers have been searching through the mangled wreckage for trapped survivors of the accident, which occurred at 3am as many passengers were sleeping. The train was travelling from the capital, Jakarta, when it ploughed into the rear of parked train at a station in Petarukan, a coastal city in Central Java province, the transport ministry said. The force of the crash knocked several carriages off the track, scattering twisted metal debris, open suitcases and passengers' belongings over the area.
Local hospitals reported they had received the bodies of 35 fatally injured passengers, plus more than 40 casualties. One body was reported to still be trapped inside an upended carriage more than 10 hours after the incident, after rescuers had to wait for heavy lifting machinery to be transported from a distant location.
Cranes were needed to rescue passengers trapped in the upturned carriage A team of investigators had been dispatched from Jakarta but national police spokesman Iskandar Hasan said the accident was believed to be a result of human error. "The suspected cause of the accident was a mistake in the traffic management system," he said. Detectives are also investigating whether a mechanical signalling fault could have been to blame.
Indonesia has suffered numerous transportation incidents in recent years and has developed a reputation for poor safety standards and maintenance. Just an hour after Saturday's collision, another train crashed in the town of Solo, also in Central Java, killing at least one person, according to police.
Police and residents search for victims in the wreckage of a train after two trains collided in Pemalang of the Indonesias central Java province October 2, 2010. Dozens of people were killed or badly injured when two trains collided in Indonesias central Java province early on Saturday morning, officials told Reuters. REUTERS
