A speeding passenger bus lost control and careened off a 12-meter cliff, killing at least 18 passengers after its brakes failed in Cisarua, West Java, Wednesday morning.
The bus, operated by the tourism bus company Giri Indah, was reportedly speeding along Puncak Pass when the driver collided with a pickup truck near Tugu Utara Village, according to a witness. The bus rolled down the cliff side before landing upside down on top of the truck, killing at least 18 people and injuring more than 30 others, police said.
Witness Sugianto, 57, was riding his motorbike behind the bus when it veered off the cliff.
“The road was winding but the bus was running at full speed,” he said. “The bus [then] lost control. It hit a pickup truck and pushed the vehicle off a 12-meter cliff. It flipped twice and hit the ground upside down. The pickup was crushed beneath it.”
According to police, the bus lost control when its brakes failed.
“The cause of the accident is still under investigation but we suspect it was because the brakes did not work based on the driver’s information,” West Java Police spokesman Sr. Cmr. Martinus Sitompul said.
The bus was taking members of the Bethel Church, in Kelapa Gading, Jakarta, back to their homes after a visit to Kota Bunga, a popular picnic destination known for its flowers.
The injured, including bus driver Muhammad Amin, were transported to the nearby Dr. M. Goenawan Partowidigdi Lung Hospital, in Cisarua, Bogor, for treatment.
Wednesday 21 August 2013
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/at-least-16-killed-as-bus-careens-off-cliff-in-west-java/
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