A passenger bus collided head-on with a fuel tanker truck on a highway on Sumatra island, killing at least 16 people and injuring four others, officials said.
The crash occurred around midday on the Trans-Sumatra Highway in North Musi Rawas regency of South Sumatra province on Wednesday, when an intercity bus carrying at least 20 people struck a tanker truck traveling in the opposite direction, said Mugono, a local disaster management agency official.
Mugono, who uses a single name like many Indonesians, said preliminary findings indicate the bus – which was traveling from South Sumatra’s Lubuklinggau city to Jambi, another city – may have emitted sparks shortly before the collision.
This move may have prompted the driver to steer the vehicle toward the right side of the road in an attempt to avoid a more serious incident.
However, an oil tanker truck was approaching at high speed, leaving little time to avoid a direct impact.
The dead include the bus driver and 13 passengers as well as the tanker’s driver and assistant, all of whom burnt to death inside the vehicles, Mugono said.
Four bus passengers survived the crash and were taken to a nearby health clinic, including three who suffered severe burn injuries and one who sustained minor injuries, Mugono said.
As the passenger manifest is still being traced, Mugono said authorities are still collecting data on the total number of fatalities.
Rescuers evacuated victims and cleared the wreckage, though several were pinned inside the vehicles, complicating rescue efforts and disrupting traffic along the highway, Margono said.
Sixteen body bags containing the remains of victims have been received at Siti Aisyah Hospital in Lubuk Linggau for identification, the North Musi Rawas’ traffic police chief Muhammad Karim said yesterday.
He said South Sumatra police said Disaster Victim Identification teams have so far confirmed the identities of five victims, include the bus driver, two bus crew members, the tanker driver and one passenger.
The remaining 11 victims have yet to be identified as forensic teams continue their work.
“All the bodies are severely burnt, which has complicated the identification process,” Karim said, adding that they are being processed before being transported by land to Bhayangkara Police Hospital in Palembang, the provincial capital, for autopsies. — AP
