13 killed as train slams into bus in Jakarta

Thirteen people died when a mini bus they were travelling was rammed by an electric commuter train in the Kalideres-Grogol route near Angke Station, west Jakarta here.

A local television news reported the incident occurred at 8.48am Sunday when a mini bus attempted to cross a railway track before the bus was hit and dragged by a commuter train for about 400 metres.

KAI Commuter Jabodetabek public relations officer, Eva Chairunnisa was quoted as saying all train passengers were however, not hurt.

She said works to extricate the bus which was trapped at the commuter train's head were still being carried out and the train company has yet to issue a statement on the incident.

Most railway and commuter train tracks around Jakarta are using automatic gates but the signaling system is said to malfunction sometimes and cause passenger vehicles to be trapped in the middle of the railway track.

Meanwhile, Tambora police chief, Wirdhanto said so far police had confirmed 13 people had been killed while another three were injured and all of them were passengers in the mini bus.

He said all victims were taken to the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, in central Jakarta.

The accident caused a massive congestion along the road heading to Angke in west Jakarta.