A chain collision involving a tourist bus and 10 other vehicles occurred over the weekend, leaving one dead and eight others injured. The bus driver who allegedly set off the pile-up was arrested by the police yesterday.
The suspect, AS, is a 38-year-old bus driver originally from Sidoarjo, East Java, Tabanan Police confirmed.
The incident took place on Saturday at around 11:15am on Denpasar-Singaraja Road in Baturiti District, Tabanan. AS was driving a tourist bus that carried a group of teachers and students from a junior high school in Surabaya.
A witness said that he saw AS zig-zagging between lanes before he crashed the bus into vehicles in front of him on the way down. Another witness, AK, who rode her motorbike and nearly became a victim herself, said that the bus looked unstable during the descent.
“Someone [from above] shouted, ‘Brake failure! Brake failure!’” AK said, adding that she jumped off her motorbike to avoid a collision.
A pedestrian identified by her initials NWW was killed upon direct collision with the bus. NWW was walking home with her daughter, NLP, a 4th grader, from a temple when the bus suddenly hurtled toward them.
“During the incident, the victim pushed her daughter so the bus would not hit her,” said Made Armawan, NWW’s relative, adding that the victim’s funeral has been scheduled for today.
Eight others were injured in the crash, three of whom were from the UK, one from the US, and one from Australia. None of the tourist bus passengers were hurt in the incident.
Under Indonesian traffic law, AS may face a maximum of six years behind bars if proven guilty for vehicular manslaughter.
The Tabanan Police are still investigating the collision per this article’s publication, although initial official findings suggest that brake failure was the main cause behind the accident.
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