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Central Java Idul Fitri road toll reaches 30
Suherdjoko , The Jakarta Post , Semarang | Sat, 10/04/2008 11:32 AM | The Archipelago
At least 30 holidaymakers were killed during this year's Idul Fitri tide of traffic along Central Java roads, a traffic official said.
As of Friday, at least 26 accidents involving 36 vehicles occurred along one of the busiest travel routes.
The Idul Fitri command center's daily operations chief from the provincial Information, Communication and Transportation Agency, R. Susetyo, said Friday most accidents involved motorcycles and cars.
He said the most recent accident had occurred early Friday morning when a van crashed into a truck, killing three family members and injuring three others.
The van, heading from Semarang to Demak, hit a truck parked on the left of the road in front of the Guyaran traditional market in Demak, Central Java. All of the victims were passengers in the van.
The dead -- Marta, 53, his wife Izih Junasih, 50, and son Wawan Sudarwan, 26,-- were residents of Karayunan village, Sigasong district in Majalengka, West Java.
The police suspected the victims died from severe bleeding after suffering serious injuries to their heads, faces and bodies. They were immediately taken to Sunan Kalijaga general hospital in Demak.
The traffic division chief of Demak Police, Adj. Comr. Sumarni, suggested the van's driver, Bunyamin, 43, had fallen asleep at the wheel. The driver only suffered slight wounds.
The victims' relative, Iban Kuswara who had been driving in a second car, said they were all on pilgrimage to the shrines of the Wali Songo, nine Islamic saints believed to have spread Islam to the Hindu-Buddhist communities in Java.
They had departed from Sunan Gunungjati shrine in Cirebon and were headed for Sunan Kalijaga shrine in Kadilangu in Demak.
"Actually, the truck was parked far enough away from the road," Sumarni said, adding the police had been encouraging travelers to stop and rest frequently if they got tired during their journey to prevent accidents.
Another accident occurred Thursday when a Prambanan Express train serving the Yogyakarta-Solo route rammed a Toyota Avanza van on a level crossing without a barrier gate in Klaten, Central Java, killing six passengers in the van.
On Wednesday, five out of 10 van passengers were killed as the Rajawali train serving the Surabaya-Semarang route hit a stalled Toyota Kijang van in Kenteng village, Toroh district, Grobogan regency, Central Java.
The 10 passengers were traveling from Wonosobo to Grobogan.
The police also recorded one motorcycle rider was killed when two motorcycles collided head-on with a Toyota Kijang van along the northern coastal route in Siwalan, Wiradesa, Pekalongan regency in Central Java.
The van's driver escaped heading westward and the police failed to identify the van's license plate number.
In Subang, West Java, eight truck passengers were killed Thursday.
Two motorcycle riders were also killed on the northern West Java route near Cirebon in two separate accidents on the same day.
