At least 19 people were killed and 18 others injured after a bus plunged into a 15-meter ravine on Jl. Raya Puncak, Cisarua district, Bogor, West Java, early on Wednesday.
The dead and injured were taken to the Sentra Medika Hospital in Cibinong and the Paru Hospital in Cisarua, both in West Java.
They were among the 53 members of different churches in Jakarta on their way back from a three-day retreat at the Pondok Kepenray cottage in Kota Bunga, Cianjur, West Java. The event was organized by the Indonesia Bethel church (GBI) in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta.
According to West Java Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul, the accident occurred as the bus was traveling at high speed.
He said the driver might have lost control of the bus on a bend on Jl. Raya Puncak and hit a parked pick-up truck carrying LPG canisters before the bus fell into the ravine.
An eyewitness, Kushendar, said the bus hit the truck and dragged it several meters.
"Some men, who were unloading LPG canisters ran away from the truck to avoid being hit by the bus," he said.
Voni, a passenger who survived the accident, said that the accident might have been caused by a brake malfunction.
"The bus was shaking all the way from Kota Bunga, and I believe this was caused by faulty brakes. I was lucky because I sat at the rear of the bus, so I didn't die from the impact of the crash," she said.
Martinus said the police were still investigating the exact cause of the fatal accident, which might have been due to brake problems or the bus driver's negligence.
"We have arrested the driver, who is still receiving medical treatment. So far, we have questioned six
witnesses to the accident," he said.
West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Suhardi Alius said that the police would prosecute anyone who was responsible for the accident.
"We will punish the driver if the accident happened due to his negligence. We will revoke the license of the bus operator if the accident was caused by malfunctions in the bus," he said.
He said that the accident was unlikely to have been caused by the condition of Jl. Raya Puncak because the road surface was in good condition and had no holes that could have caused the vehicle to roll over into the ravine.
According to GBI pastor Rev. Berti Momor, the church had borrowed the bus from a congregation member identified as David S.
"David always lends us a bus when we conduct our monthly religious retreats in Bogor," she said.
She said that she could not reveal any details about the bus passengers' identities because she did not have the passenger manifest.
"Our congregation member, Agus Purnomo, has the manifest," she said, adding that Agus was on board the bus at the time of the accident. (ogi)
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