Indonesian police yesterday arrested the driver of a train that crashed in central Java, his lawyer said, after 36 people were killed and dozens injured.
A passenger train heading to Surabaya smashed into the rear carriages of a Semarang-bound train waiting at a station platform in Petarukan Pemalang, on Saturday, officers at the scene said.
Mohammed Khalik Mustofa, who drove the Surabaya-bound train, was arrested yesterday for alleged “negligence which led to deaths,” his lawyer Tugiman told reporters.
“Our client has been made a suspect by the police. We’ll wait for further developments,” he said.
QUESTIONED
Nine people are being questioned by police, including the train station head and both drivers, Kompas.com news Web site reported.
Police said 36 people were killed and national railway operator spokesman Sugeng Priyono said 36 people were injured, five of them seriously.
“Most of those hospitalized had light injuries. Victims will be compensated,” the spokesman said, adding that the wrecked trains had been removed from the railway tracks and that the “situation is back to normal.”
“The police and the transportation safety commission are investigating if there’s human error,” national police spokesman Marwoto Soeto said.
“We’ll see if the fault lies with machinists behind the train controls or those in charge of setting the track routes, among other things. Investigations will take about a week,” he said.
INQUIRIES
However, the chairman of the National Commission of Transportation Safety Tatang Kurniadi said a “comprehensive investigation” would require three to four months to complete.
“We must consider every aspect, the human factors and mechanical factors, and investigate the whole system before we can conclude whether there’s human error,” he said.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered a thorough inquiry into the accident and has said that “should the investigation uncover negligence, there will be sanctions,” presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post newspaper.
Indonesian Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said the state railway operator would undergo a complete evaluation.
POOR TRACK RECORD
In June eight people were killed when several carriages of a packed passenger train derailed as it traveled across Java, the most populous island in the world.
Poor infrastructure, corruption and weak safety standards are often cited as factors that invariably contribute to frequent transport disasters in Indonesia, especially on the many ferries that link the archipelago’s thousands of islands.
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