At least six
people died and 23 others were injured in a collision between a Sumber Kencono
bus and a motorbike in Madiun, East Java, early on Sunday morning, police said.
“Six people died
at the scene, while the number of injured is still unknown. They have all been
taken to the Caruban Hospital in Madiun,” Madiun Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr.
Nanang Juni Mawanto said Sunday as quoted kompas.com.
The four
casualties were identified as Ari Edi Budiarandiko and Ikbal Ramadhan from
Tangerang, Banten, Agus Hariadi from Magetan, East Java and Pangat from Ngawi,
East Java.
The other two
were still not identified and were without identity.
Nanang said
preliminary investigations had determined that the bus was running in sixth
gear, indicating that the crash was caused by the speeding bus.
“We have not
questioned the [bus] driver because he is still injured. The same goes for the
motorcyclist,” he said.
The driver, Agus
Widodo, 41, has been with the bus company for a month and is still working on a
probationary period for the bus. Two other bus crew were also injured.
One bus
passenger who survived the crash, Pardi, said the bus was speeding and
suspected that the bus driver was attempting to overtake another Sumber Kencono
bus.
“The bus was
going so fast and seemed to be trying to overtake another Sumber Kencono bus
driving just one car away. Then the bus [I was in] tried to overtake the
vehicle in front when a motorbike was coming from the opposite direction,” he
said.
Other witnesses
said that after hitting the motorcycle and a street stall, the bus overturned
several times before stopping some 100 meters from where it first hit the
motorcycle.
The accident
caused heavy congestion on the Madiun-Surabaya main road with the bus wreckage
blocking the carriageway.
Prior to the
accident, the Sumber Kencono bus had been involved in a number of accidents,
which forced its name to be changed to Sumber Selamat, although reports said
only some buses used the new name.
Between 2009 and
2010, the bus was involved in 51 accidents, claiming 36 lives and injuring 90
others. In Ngawi, East Java, the bus was set on fire by angry residents
following an accident.
The bus collided
twice in 2011, killing a total of 31 people.
