Fatal Accident of ALS Bus vs Tank Truck in Muratara South Sumatra, 16 People Died

JAKARTA - The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of North Musi Rawas Regency (Muratara), South Sumatra, evacuated 16 victims who died due to a fatal collision between an ALS bus and a tanker truck on Jalan Lintas Sumatera, Karang Jaya District, Wednesday afternoon.

The Head of the BPBD Preparedness Section of Muratara, Mugono, confirmed that the tragic incident resulted in 16 people dying at the scene. The victims consisted of 14 passengers of the ALS bus as well as the driver and the driver of the tanker car.

"Our team is on the ground with Satlantas for the evacuation process. The provisional report is that 16 victims have been identified as dead," he said, quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, May 8.

He said that based on the initial data collected by the BPBD in the field, the accident occurred at around 12.39 WIB.

The incident began when the ALS bus was traveling from Lubuklinggau to Medan or Pekanbaru. When crossing the Karang Jaya sub-district area, a spark appeared from the bus.

The ALS bus driver then tried to direct the vehicle to the right side of the road to avoid greater risks.

However, at the same time from the opposite direction (North/Rupit), a tanker car was traveling at high speed so that a violent collision was inevitable.

The BPBD emphasized that the main focus at this time was to remove the victims who were trapped in the vehicle cabin and ensure the safety of other passengers who were injured.

The victims were 14 ALS passengers, 1 Tank Driver, 1 Kenek Tank. The condition of the vehicle was severely bent due to a frontal collision.

"A total of 16 people were killed, four people survived, three of whom were seriously burned and one person was lightly injured," he said.