Advertisement

28 dead after bus plunges into ravine in Indonesian island

In this photo released by the National Search And Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), rescuers remove the body of a victim of a bus accident in Pagaralam, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2019. A number of people were killed when the passenger bus plunged into the ravine on Sumatra island after its brakes apparently malfunctioned, police said Tuesday. (BASARNAS via AP)

A bus plunged into a ravine on Indonesia’s Sumatra island after its brakes apparently malfunctioned, killing at least 28 people and injuring 13 others, police and rescuers said Tuesday.

The accident occurred just before midnight Monday on a winding road in South Sumatra province’s Pagaralam district.

Palembang search and rescue operation chief Berty Kowaas said the bodies were taken to a hospital for identification, including that of a young boy who was pulled from a river near the crash site.

READ MORE: Indonesia picks new site for capital city as Jakarta slowly sinks into sea

One of the injured was in critical condition, local police chief Dolly Gumara said.

Gumara said the bus plunged into a 80-meter-deep ravine and crashed into a fast-flowing river after the driver lost control of the vehicle in an area with a number of sharp declines.

Story continues below advertisement

Survivors told authorities that the vehicle’s brakes apparently malfunctioned, but police were still investigating the cause of the accident, Gumara said.

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

The bus was headed for the provincial capital of Palembang from the neighboring city of Bengkulu.

Click to play video: 'Petition for more road safety, commercial trucking rules after Humboldt bus tragedy'
Petition for more road safety, commercial trucking rules after Humboldt bus tragedy

Kowaas said the search for other passengers who might have been dragged away by the river was halted as darkness fell and would be resumed Wednesday morning.

The capacity of the bus was 52 passengers, but the number of passengers on board was unclear. The driver and two crew were among those killed.

Television video showed police and rescuers from the National Search and Rescue Agency evacuating injured victims and carrying the dead in blue body bags. Grieving relatives waited for information about their loved ones at the bus company’s office in Bengkulu and at Pagaralam’s Besemah hospital.

Story continues below advertisement

READ MORE: Miracle survivor of 2004 tsunami on a mission to close gaps in warning system

Road accidents are common in Indonesia because of poor safety standards and infrastructure.

Early last year, 27 people were killed when a packed tourist bus plunged from a hill in West Java province. Two months later, two accidents in West Java’s hilly resort region of Puncak killed at least 15 people. In September last year, 21 were killed when a tourist bus plunged into a ravine in Bogor, another hilly area in West Java.

Sponsored content

AdChoices