Six die in bus crash hours into the New Year

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 Ma-getan, 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. Its first accident last year was in Madiun where the bus crashed with a truck, leaving 10 people dead. The bus driver was sentenced to six years in jail.

In September last year, another Sumber Kencono bus was involved in a collision with a minivan in Mojokerto, East Java, killing 21 people. At a high speed, the bus, coming from Surabaya heading toward Jombang collided with the minibus, which was traveling in the opposite direction.

According to the East Java Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), The Sumber Kencono bus armada accounts for 60 to 70 percent of the total buses serving Yogyakarta to Surabaya. (awd)