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Train driver escapes fiery wreck after crash in Semarang
A train driver safely escaped from a burning passenger train operated by the state-owned train operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) on Tuesday night, minutes after the train he was driving crashed into a truck in Semarang, Central Java.
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Twisted metal: Rescuers and volunteers work to remove the wreckage of an unloaded flatbed truck that was hit by a train in Semarang, Central Java, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. (Antara/Makna Zaezar)
A train driver of the state-owned train operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) safely escaped from a burning passenger train on Tuesday night, minutes after the train he was driving crashed into a truck in Semarang, Central Java.
According to Semarang Police chief Sr. Comr. Irwan Anwar, the accident occurred at around 7.30 p.m. after a flatbed truck suddenly stalled on the train tracks when it was about to cross the railway crossing on Jl. Madukoro, Semarang.
"The truck driver and his assistant immediately [got out of the vehicle] and alerted the railway gate operator, but it was too late. The Brantas train was coming and the accident was unavoidable," Irwan told the press on Tuesday.
The Brantas train crashed into the truck at a high speed and dragged it several meters forward to a nearby Kokrosono railway bridge above the Semarang West Flood Canal.
When the truck hit the bridge, it burst into flames, several viral videos showed. The locomotive and at least one passenger car were caught in the explosion.
The Brantas Train consists of 10 carriages, and when the accident occurred, it was carrying more than 600 passengers. The train was bound for Blitar Station in Blitar, East Java from Pasar Senen Station in Jakarta.
In a video that was widely circulated on social media platforms, the Brantas train driver, 34-year-old Budi Winarno, was seen limping along the Kokrosono bridge minutes after the incident, while the train he was driving was blazing in the background.
