... I panicked and was afraid. I jumped out minutes before the bus reached the bank...Bogor, West Java (ANTARA News) - Lukman Iskandar (43), the driver of Karunia Bhakti passenger bus that plunged into a ravine killing 14 people on Friday said he had run because he was afraid he would be beaten up by people.
"I panicked and was afraid. I jumped out minutes before the bus reached the bank," he said here on Saturday.
Lukman was arrested while at one of the bus pooling stations in Garut six hours after the incident.
He said the bus was roadworthy but had troubles in its back wheels when passing the Puncak road that had caused the black smoke. "We then made some repair and the bus then operated again," he said.
The bus that carried around 30 passengers passed Jalan Raya Puncak but when it reached the section before Pafesta Cisarua its brake failed to function making it to run into another bus Doa Ibu serving the Tasikmalaya-Jakarta route coming from Bogor in front of it.
He said he then turned the wheel but hit a billboard, five motorcycles, two mini-buses, an electricity pole, a shop and the fence of a villa before plunging into a seven-meter deep ravine.
Fourteen people died in the incident while 38 others were wounded and 10 of them were under critical conditions.
"I jumped before the bus plunged," he said.
Lukman hailing from Garut deplored the incident and was being examined and would be held responsible for it.
The chief of the traffic police unit of the Bogor resort police command, Adjunct Commissioner Syarif Zainal Abidin, said the police were still investigating the incident.
He said the driver would also have his urine examined to see if he drank alcoholic drinks or used narcotics while driving the bus or not.
He said the driver would be charged with Article 310 Paragraph 4 for negligence that caused deaths. "He is facing a maximum penalty of six years. But we would still investigate and develop the case further to see if other elements were involved in it. What is clear is his escape would become an incriminating factor," he said.
The incident at around 6.40 pm was the worst in 2012 in the jurisdiction of the Bogor district. (KR-LR)
Editor: Ade P Marboen
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
