Two trains collided on Monday night (27) in the city of Bekasi, in the metropolitan region of Jakarta, capital of Indonesia. The death toll in the accident rose to 14, with another 84 injured, the railway operator said on Tuesday (28), as rescue teams worked to extract survivors still trapped in the wreckage.
The collision occurred between an urban train and a long-distance train. Bobby Rasyidi, chief executive of Indonesian state railway company PT KAI, said work to rescue the injured was still ongoing.
Mohammad Syafii, head of Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, said at a news conference on Tuesday morning that rescuing survivors from the destroyed train cars was a delicate process.
“We needed to involve personnel with certain skills to carry out a careful rescue,” he said. “There are some victims who are alive at the moment and we hope to get them out, but they are still trapped by the wreckage of the train,” Syafii said.
Rescue teams uncoupled the trains. They were seen using grinders to cut through the metal of the carriages and reach the survivors.
Rasyidi said at the press conference that the passenger train first collided with a taxi on the tracks and was then hit by the long-distance train. A women-only carriage suffered the strongest impact of the collision.
Taxi company Green SM Indonesia said on Instagram that the taxi involved in the accident was part of its fleet. The company also said that it sent information to authorities to assist in the investigation. Green SM Indonesia is the Indonesian branch of Vietnamese electric taxi operator Green and Smart Mobility JSC.
After visiting a hospital in Bekasi, President Prabowo Subianto said he had agreed to build a flyover near the train tracks to help resolve heavy traffic congestion, adding that authorities would investigate the collision. He said much of it is not well maintained.
Indonesia’s National Transport Safety Committee (KNKT) is investigating the accident.
This morning, rescue teams and people headed to the train station, some looking for their relatives. A man was seen crying while holding his brother’s bloody bag.
Heriyati, a passenger, said she initially intended to use the women-only carriage but opted for the back carriage. She was on the phone with her husband, asking him to pick her up at the station, when the collision occurred.
“I hadn’t even finished the call and the trains collided,” she said.
Suburban trains are among the busiest in Jakarta, the most populous city in the world. On Tuesday, PT KAI reported that several suburban train journeys were interrupted due to the accident.
Accidents involving land transport are common in Indonesia. One in West Java province in 2024 killed four people and injured dozens.
