Police to test car driver for narcotics

Head of Jakarta traffic police Sr. Comr. Dwi Sigit Nurmantyas said the police would conduct follow up narcotics tests on a motorist and her passengers involved in the fatal Gambir crash yesterday that claimed the lives of 9 people.

“We will conduct another test despite the fact they passed the first one, because something is missing here. We need to reassure ourselves about narcotics influence. We will bring more tools so we can perform more thorough tests this time,” Dwi Sigit said on Sunday as quoted by kompas.com.

He said at first the driver, Apriyani Susanti, claimed that the car’s braking system malfunctioned so she lost control. “But our officers checked the car last night and found nothing wrong with the car’s braking system,” he said.

Apriyani has been named as sole suspect in the tragic accident that took the lives of nine people and injured three others yesterday. She and three friends, Arisendi, Denny and Adistira were being detained at the Jakarta Police detention center for further questioning.

Dwi Sigit said if the second test proved that the four were under the influence of narcotics during the accident then the three friends would be named as suspects as well.

A black car went out of control and plowed into a group of pedestrians, leaving 9 people dead and four others hospitalized on Sunday.

The dead were identified as M. Hudzaifah known as Ujay,Firmansyah, Suyatmi, Yusuf Sigit, Ari, Nanik Riyanti, Fifit Alfiah Fitriasih, M.Akbar and Wawan. The injured were named as Siti Mukaromah,Kenny, Indra and Teguh Hadi Purnomo. (dic)