Rescue operations have concluded following a devastating train accident outside Indonesia’s capital that claimed 14 lives and left 84 others wounded, according to railway officials.
The fatal accident occurred Monday evening in Bekasi, located just beyond Jakarta’s borders, when a commuter train and a long-distance passenger train collided.
PT KAI, Indonesia’s government-owned railway company, confirmed through CEO Bobby Rasyidin that fatalities had reached 14 people.
Mohammad Syafii, who leads Indonesia’s search and rescue operations, announced Tuesday that all evacuation work had been finished. He described the rescue mission as requiring extreme care due to passengers being stuck inside severely damaged train cars.
“We needed to involve personnel with certain skills to perform a measured extrication,” Syafii explained, noting that while no additional passengers remain missing, crews will continue searching the debris for any remains.
The crash primarily impacted a car designated exclusively for female passengers. According to Syafii, every victim was a woman, with most having been trapped beneath twisted metal debris.
Before separating the crashed trains, emergency responders used power tools to slice through metal compartment walls to reach those still alive inside.
Railway executive Bobby explained during a media briefing that the commuter train initially struck a taxi on the railway before being hit by the approaching long-distance train.
Green SM Indonesia, the taxi company involved, posted on Instagram acknowledging one of their vehicles was part of the incident. The company stated they provided information to investigators to help with their inquiry.
Green SM Indonesia operates as the local division of Vietnamese electric taxi company Green and Smart Mobility JSC, which is connected to Vingroup.
Following a hospital visit in Bekasi, President Prabowo Subianto announced plans to construct an overpass near the railway to address severe traffic problems in the area. He also ordered a full investigation into the crash and acknowledged that significant portions of the country’s rail system lack proper maintenance.
Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee has launched its own investigation into the accident.
Family members and concerned residents gathered at the train station Tuesday, with some searching for missing relatives.
One passenger, Heriyati, shared that she had originally planned to board the women-only car but chose the one directly behind it instead. She was speaking with her husband by phone, arranging for him to collect her from the station, when the crash happened.
“I haven’t even finished with the call and the trains collided,” she recalled.
Jakarta’s commuter rail system serves one of the world’s most densely populated metropolitan areas. PT KAI announced Tuesday that several commuter routes were shortened due to the accident.
Transportation accidents involving ground vehicles occur frequently throughout Indonesia. A separate train crash in West Java province during 2024 resulted in four deaths and multiple injuries.
