At least 14 dead after collision of two trains on the outskirts of Jakarta

Jakarta.- Indonesian authorities raised to 14 the number of deaths after the collision that occurred the previous day on the outskirts of Jakarta, where two commercial trains collided in circumstances still under investigation.

According to data from the state railway company KAI, the total number of fatalities from the accident rose to 14, while 84 survivors were injured, including some who received hospital care and others who were discharged after suffering minor injuries.

This Tuesday, “search and rescue operations continue intensely” for the “victims of the train accident that occurred at Bekasi East station”, with the evacuation of those who “are still trapped in the train”, indicated the country’s rescue service, Basarnas, in a statement.

The head of the Jakarta Search and Rescue Office, Desiana Kartika Bahari, indicated that the operation is still focused on locating and extracting the people believed to still be inside the train cars, without specifying how many remain trapped. The affected trains are a commuter train coming from the capital and another long-distance train, which collided on Monday night at Bekasi East station, about 20 kilometers from Jakarta, for reasons still unknown.

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Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, has in Java -where Jakarta is located- its most populated island and has bet in recent years on reinforcing its railway system, with the inauguration in 2023 of the country’s first high-speed train, which connects the capital with Bandung, a section of about 150 kilometers.