Jakarta to Deploy 750 Officers to Raid Public Vehicles for Roadworthiness
Jakarta. The Jakarta administration deployed 750 officers to conduct raids on public vehicles across the capital's five municipalities following Sunday's fatal collision between a MetroMini bus and train.
"The officers will check and seize public vehicles that [aren't roadworthy]," Yani Wahyu Purwoko, deputy of the Jakarta transportation agency, told the Jakarta Globe on Monday.
Five teams, which include personnel from the city's transportation agency, police and army, conducted the raids immediately after they gathered for an instruction assembly earlier this morning at 7:30.
"This is a massive raid and we will continue [conducting them] until the head of the Jakarta transportation agency orders us to stop [doing so]," Yani said.
The raid was prompted after a MetroMini bus carrying 24 passengers was struck by a train on Sunday morning, killing 18 people on board, including the driver.
The train was traveling from North Jakarta along Jalan Tubagus Angke in West Jakarta when it hit the MetroMini bus after the driver reportedly ignored warning signs of an approaching train and drove forward to cross the tracks even though train barriers were shut.
The remaining passengers from the incident are reportedly still in critical condition.
It remains unclear whether the MetroMini bus's roadworthiness was a primary factor in the collision.
Following the incident, the Jakarta Transportation Office also decided to eliminate bus routes that cross railway tracks.
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