At least 16 killed as speeding bus overturns on highway in Indonesia’s Java

JAVA(Indonesia): At least 16 people were killed after a passenger bus crashed into a roadside barrier and overturned on a highway in Indonesia’s Central Java province early Monday, Jakarta Post reported.

The bus was travelling from Jakarta to Yogyakarta when the accident occurred at a highway interchange in Krapyak, near the city of Semarang.

According to search and rescue authorities, the bus was moving at a fairly high speed when it approached a turn, lost control and struck the barrier before flipping onto its side.

Rescue teams evacuated 34 people from the scene. Fifteen passengers were declared dead on the spot, while another succumbed to injuries after being taken to the hospital. Several others were rushed to medical facilities in Semarang for treatment.

Video footage released by rescue officials showed emergency workers carrying bodies away as the damaged bus lay overturned beside the road, Jakarta Post reported.

In recent years, multiple serious incidents have highlighted these risks. In September, at least eight people were killed when a bus carrying hospital workers and their families crashed on a steep road near Mount Bromo in East Java.

In 2024, 12 people died in a collision involving a car and a bus during Idul Fitri travel, while in 2019, at least 35 passengers were killed after a bus plunged into a ravine in West Sumatra.

Authorities have launched an investigation to determine the exact cause of Monday’s crash. (ANI)