​Fire at TransJakarta bus pool destroys 18 buses

Photo: Twitter/@BPBDJakarta

We all know that older TransJakarta buses have a nasty habit of occasionally spontaneously bursting into flame. But this is  ridiculous.

A fire broke out in Rawa Buaya, West Jakarta yesterday evening at the bus pool of one TransJakarta operator, Trans Batavia. The fire raged through the tightly parked vehicles, destroying at least 18 buses before it was put out at about 7pm.

The fire started suddenly at around 6:30 pm. Local residents initially saw smoke and flames which quickly grew in intensity. After some time, a single huge explosion was heard coming from inside the pool, which reportedly could be heard up to two kilometers away. 

The operations manager of PT Trans Batavia, Daryono told Kompas that the fire only destroyed buses that were already out of commission and ready for demolition. So the fire would not disrupt services on Corridors II and III of the busway, which is the corridor Trans Batavia buses usually work.

Daryono said they still did not know the cause of the fire and noted that none of the buses that were burnt were filled with gas at the time. He said a refueling station behind the pool was fortunately not affected by the fire.

Hopefully we won’t have to worry about old exploding buses much longer. Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has already purchased a number of new TransJakarta buses recently and said he would purchase 509 more before the end of the year in the hopes of making the whole busway system operational 24 hours per day. 



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