Commuter Train Collision in Indonesia Kills 3, Injures 28

People stand at the site of a train collision between the local Bandung Raya train and the Turangga train in Cicalengka, Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia, January 5, 2024, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Raisan Al Farisi/via REUTERS
People stand at the site of a train collision between the local Bandung Raya train and the Turangga train in Cicalengka, Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia, January 5, 2024, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Raisan Al Farisi/via REUTERS
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Commuter Train Collision in Indonesia Kills 3, Injures 28

People stand at the site of a train collision between the local Bandung Raya train and the Turangga train in Cicalengka, Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia, January 5, 2024, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Raisan Al Farisi/via REUTERS
People stand at the site of a train collision between the local Bandung Raya train and the Turangga train in Cicalengka, Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia, January 5, 2024, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Raisan Al Farisi/via REUTERS

Rescuers were battling on Friday to extricate two people trapped between railway cars after commuter trains collided on Indonesia’s main island of Java, killing at least three and injuring 28, authorities said.

Video images from broadcasters MetroTV and Kompas TV showed passengers being helped out of train carriages, some of which had gone off the rails entirely.

Rescuers were weighing options to save the two people found squeezed between cars, said Herry Marantika, the head of a rescue agency, but declined to say if they were still alive.

Ambulances gathered to take the injured to hospital, police said, following the collision at 6:03 a.m. (1103 GMT) near the provincial capital of Bandung.

The three dead were train crew, said Ibrahim Tompo, a regional spokesperson of West Java police, adding that a total of 478 passengers were aboard the trains, with the 28 injured taken to hospital.

Transportation ministry spokesperson Adita Irawati apologized for the accident and for the disruption of railway services in the West Java region.

She said the cause of the accident was being investigated.

The government has spent billions of dollars on improving infrastructure, including roads, railways, airports and power plants, in the world’s largest archipelago nation, home to more than 270 million people.



Kremlin Says Russia is Doing All it Can to Try to De-Escalate Middle East Tensions

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs the Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Pavel Byrkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs the Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Pavel Byrkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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Kremlin Says Russia is Doing All it Can to Try to De-Escalate Middle East Tensions

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs the Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Pavel Byrkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs the Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Pavel Byrkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia was doing everything it could to try to facilitate attempts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East by urging restraint on all sides.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the comments when asked about the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Iran, Reuters said.
"Russia is maintaining contacts with all parties to this conflict. We have contacts with Tehran, and we have contacts with the Israelis and the Palestinians," Peskov told reporters.
"Russia is constantly doing everything possible to call on the parties to show restraint and to facilitate any attempts to de-escalate tensions.
"...There is still an extremely tense situation in the region and, of course, it is very important now to promote restraint in this regard."