A passenger bus collided head-on with a fuel tanker truck on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, killing at least 16 people and injuring four others, officials said
A passenger bus collided head-on with a fuel tanker truck on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, killing at least 16 people and leaving four others injured, officials said.
The devastating crash occurred on Wednesday, May 6 around midday on the Trans-Sumatra Highway in North Musi Rawas regency of South Sumatra province. The intercity bus was transporting at least 20 people when it ploughed into a tanker truck travelling in the opposite direction, said Mugono, a local disaster management agency official.
Mugono, who goes by a single name, said initial investigations suggest the bus – which was journeying from South Sumatra’s Lubuklinggau city to Jambi, another city – may have begun emitting sparks moments before the collision.
This may have caused the driver to swerve the vehicle towards the right side of the road in a bid to prevent a more catastrophic incident. However, an oil tanker truck was bearing down at high speed, leaving virtually no time to avoid a direct collision.
“The forceful impact triggered a fire that engulfed both vehicles, leaving many victims trapped inside,” Mugono said.
The fatalities include the bus driver and 13 passengers as well as the tanker’s driver and assistant, all of whom perished in the flames inside the vehicles.
Four bus passengers escaped the crash and were rushed to a nearby health clinic. Three passengers suffered serious burn injuries and one sustained minor injuries.
As the passenger list is still being tracked down, Mugono said that authorities are continuing to gather data on the total number of casualties, reports the Mirror.
Images and videos released by the National Search and Rescue Agency depicted firefighters tackling the blaze as thick clouds of black smoke and orange flames billowed into the sky. On the ground lay the burnt-out shells of the bus and tanker truck, with mangled metal strewn across the motorway.
Rescue workers, including disaster officers and traffic police, evacuated victims and cleared the wreckage, though several were trapped inside the vehicles, hampering rescue efforts and causing disruption to traffic along the motorway.
Sixteen body bags containing the remains of victims have been received at Siti Aisyah Hospital in Lubuk Linggau for identification, North Musi Rawas’ traffic police chief Muhammad Karim announced on Thursday.
He reported that South Sumatra police said Disaster Victim Identification teams have so far confirmed the identities of five victims, including 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 burned, which has complicated the identification process,” Karim said, adding that they are being processed before being transported overland to Bhayangkara Police Hospital in Palembang, the provincial capital, for post-mortem examinations.
He walked back earlier preliminary findings, saying police investigators believe the bus crossed into the opposite lane while attempting to avoid a pothole, causing the head‐on collision and fire.