A chain collision involving nine vehicles that left one person dead in front of Jimbaran’s Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) cultural park on Friday is under investigation by police in Bali.
Denpasar Traffic Police are still hunting for the driver of the bus that set off the brutal collision, who apparently fled the scene after the accident.
Meanwhile, Jasa Raharja Bali, the company using the bus, has compensated the family of victim Ida Bagus Putu Adnyana, 46, from Singaraja, North Bali with IDR50 million (US$3,630).
Another man, Jalil, was injured in the accident and was taken to the hospital where he is receiving medical treatment.
The accident took place around 2pm on Friday when the bus, reportedly carrying Indian tourists, was driving downhill from south to north on the steep Jl. Uluwatu and allegedly experienced brake failure, causing a domino effect of successive crashes. The bus plowed into a Toyota Avanza, which crashed into the Toyota Innova in front of it, which crashed into another Avanza and then a motorcycle in front, which was driven by Jalil. On its way down the narrow road, the bus additionally slammed into two pickups parked on the side of the road.
But it doesn’t even end there. After hitting the cars in front of it, the bus swerved to the right to hit an oncoming Isuzu car, steered left again to hit a motorbike driven by Putu Budi Artana, and finally launched into a power pole where it ultimately stopped.
“We are still looking for the bus driver. We urge the bus driver to turn himself in,” Denpasar Traffic Police Chief Rahmawaty Ismail told Bali Post on Sunday.
Adnyana, who had been the driver of one of the pickups parked in front of the Circle K across from GWK, was killed right as he stepped out of his vehicle to go buy a drink from the convenience shop. He reportedly died instantly as the bus ran him over.
Last week’s pile-up wasn’t the first to fatal collision to happen at that spot, which is quite prone to dangerous accidents says local vendor Sudiana.
About five years ago, a truck similarly experienced brake failure in the same spot. As a result, the truck slid into the vehicles in front of it and also took out some stalls along the side of the road.
“If I’m not mistaken, at that time, about five people were killed by the accident,” Sudiana told Tribun Bali on Saturday
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