Ten people were killed and five more were injured after a Pertamina fuel truck crashed into multiple cars and motorcycles at a red light in Bekasi, West Java yesterday afternoon.
According to the police, the truck was traveling down a slope on Jalan Alternatif Cibubur towards the intersection, where multiple vehicles had stopped for the red light. To the police, the truck driver claimed that his brake malfunctioned, so the vehicle smashed into the victims at full speed.
Police did not find brake marks from the truck at the scene of the accident. However, authorities are still investigating the incident and have yet to confirm the driver’s brake malfunction claim.
The driver has not been charged as of this article’s publication.
Brigadier General Aan Suhanda, director of the Law Enforcement Directorate at the National Police Traffic Corps, acknowledged that the road design — a steep slope abruptly leading towards an intersection — may have been a major factor in the incident.
“We will investigate all involved, including road management parties, to see if there was negligence [in the design],” he said.
Seven of the deceased victims were male and three were female. Among them were a naval officer and his wife. The five who were injured suffered minor wounds.
The crash was reminiscent of another in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan in January, during which a truck going down a steep slope was not able to brake and crashed into multiple vehicles at a red light. Five people were killed in that incident.
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