Java Toll Road : 16 people are killed in an Indonesian bus accident on a Java toll road when the vehicle strikes a concrete barrier
Java Toll Road : On Monday, December 22, an interprovince passenger bus lost control and crashed on a toll road on Indonesia’s Java island, killing at least 16 passengers and injuring a number more. The bus crashed near a curve on the Krapyak tollway in Semarang, Central Java, after colliding with a concrete barrier on its way from Jakarta to the ancient city of Yogyakarta. At the time of the collision, the bus was transporting 34 people.
The bus totally toppled on the road, breaking windows and bending substantial chunks of metal, according to eyewitnesses. Passengers screamed for assistance as chaos broke out immediately after the collision. Rescue operations were hampered in the early going because many passengers were trapped inside the damaged car.
Although passing cars and locals hurried to the scene, the bus was in such terrible shape that it was impossible to get to the people aboard without specialized rescue equipment.
A challenging rescue mission
About 40 minutes after the accident, police and rescue personnel arrived and began a search and rescue effort, according to the Associated Press. The mission was quite difficult, according to Budiono, chief of the Semarang Search and Rescue Office.
“We had to use heavy machinery to create an access path to reach the victims because the bus was badly damaged,” he added. Rescue workers had to go very carefully since they had to negotiate twisted metal and shattered glass. The recovery of the dead and the extraction of all the wounded passengers took many hours.
Victims Transported to Medical Facilities
Later, authorities verified that every casualty had been safely evacuated and sent to local hospitals. All of the wounded have been sent to different hospitals in Semarang, with a number of them reportedly in severe condition, according to China’s Xinhua news agency.
Police are trying to identify the dead and wounded, while medical personnel are still providing care. According to authorities, they are looking into the precise reason of the collision, including if it was caused by speeding, a technical issue, or human mistake. The state of the toll road and the steep bend where the bus lost control are also being investigated by traffic authorities.
The tragedy occurs only a few days after another Indonesian fatality. Five individuals were killed in a domestic home fire in Jakarta last week when flames spread across the structure late at night.