The death toll from a train collision near Jakarta has risen to 15, with 88 others injured, Indonesian authorities confirmed Tuesday as rescue operations concluded. The accident occurred late Monday in Bekasi, a suburban city just east of the capital, involving a commuter train and a long-distance train. The carriage most severely affected was a women-only compartment.
Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, Indonesia’s senior minister for infrastructure, announced the updated fatality count and said all the victims were women. Mohammad Syafii, head of Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, explained that many of the deceased had been trapped beneath twisted metal, making the extrication a complex and delicate process. Rescue teams used specialized personnel and tools, such as angle grinders, to cut through the wreckage and reach survivors. After completing the evacuation, authorities continued to meticulously examine the site for any remaining casualties.
Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi provided additional details, stating that the crash followed a taxi stopping on a railway crossing near Bekasi Timur station. According to official reports, the commuter train was stationary at the platform when it was struck by the oncoming long-distance train. The taxi involved belongs to Green SM Indonesia, a local branch of the Vietnamese electric-vehicle company Green and Smart Mobility JSC. The operator confirmed it had provided information to the authorities to support the ongoing investigation.
President Prabowo Subianto, who visited injured victims at a Bekasi hospital, committed to constructing a flyover to enhance safety near the railway tracks. He acknowledged that much of Indonesia’s rail infrastructure is poorly maintained and stressed the need for a thorough investigation into the causes of the collision.
The National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) has initiated an official inquiry into the incident. In the aftermath, relatives rushed to Bekasi station searching for missing family members, illustrating the wide-reaching impact of the crash on local communities. A commuter rail passenger named Heriyati recounted narrowly avoiding the worst-affected carriage and was on a call with her husband when the collision occurred.
Jakarta’s commuter trains, serving millions daily, are among the busiest transit lines in the world’s most populous city. The state railway company PT KAI announced that several commuter routes were disrupted following the crash. Transport experts, including Adriansyah Yasin Sulaeman of the Forum Transport for Jakarta, highlighted the pressing need to upgrade the aging rail network. He emphasized the necessity of separating commuter and long-distance train tracks to prevent future accidents and called the incident a wake-up call for government authorities.
Train accidents remain a frequent safety concern in Indonesia. A similar collision in West Java in 2024 resulted in four deaths and numerous injuries, underscoring ongoing challenges in maintaining safe rail transportation across the country.