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Transjakarta bus emits smoke, causing panic in Central Jakarta
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Police officers secure a smoking Transjakarta bus near the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle on the night of April 25. (Warta Kota/Hamdi Putra)
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Transjakarta bus made noises and emitted thick smoke when passing through Jl. MH Thamrin near the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., causing panic among passersby.
Local police officers immediately swarmed the bus that was serving the Blok M-Kota corridor and Transjakarta employees got out of the bus to extinguish the smoke with two fire extinguishers.
Nadia, an employee for a private company who was walking on Jl. MH Thamrin near the bus, said she was startled by a noise that sounded like an explosion.
“It felt like I just had a heart attack, my heart is still beating fast and I’m still shaking. I’m afraid that it is a bomb just like in Sarinah a few years ago,” Nadia said on Wednesday as reported by tribunnews.com.
Ayu, another employee for a private company in the area, said she was walking home from her office when she heard the noise.
“I was afraid the Thamrin bomb tragedy happened again, but Alhamdulillah [thank God] it was not a bomb,” she said, referring to suicide bombings near the Sarinah shopping area in 2016.
Transjakarta spokesperson Wibowo said the smoke came from the bus’ radiator machine belt, which snapped.
“There was no explosion there, the smoke came from the bus' snapped radiator machine belt,” Wibowo said on Wednesday as reported by kompas.com.
“There were no casualties, all passengers had been evacuated to another bus to bring them to their destinations,” Wibowo said. (ami)
