Indonesia commuter train crash toll rises to 15 as rescuers complete evacuation

The death toll from a train collision near the Indonesian capital Jakarta has risen to 15 with another 88 injured, a senior minister said on Tuesday, as emergency teams completed work to rescue passengers trapped in the wreckage.

The collision between a commuter train and a long-distance train happened late on Monday in Bekasi, just outside Jakarta, with a carriage reserved for women bearing the brunt of the crash.

Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, Indonesia's senior minister for infrastructure, told reporters the death toll had risen to 15.

Mohammad Syafii, the head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, said all the victims were women and most of them had been pinned inside by crushed metal. 

Before disengaging the trains, rescuers were seen using angle grinders to cut through the metal of the compartments and reach the survivors.

"We needed to involve personnel with certain skills to perform a measured extrication," he said, adding that rescuers were continuing to comb through the wreckage but the evacuation had been completed..

Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said the crash took place after a taxi stopped on a crossing near the Bekasi Timur station, state news agency Antara reported. The commuter train was held on the platform where it was then hit by the long-distance train, the report said.

Taxi operator Green SM Indonesia said on Instagram that the taxi was part of its fleet. It said it had sent information to authorities to assist in the investigation.

Green SM Indonesia is the Indonesian branch of Vietnamese electric-vehicle taxi operator Green and Smart Mobility JSC, an affiliate of Vingroup.

PRESIDENT PRABOWO ORDERS INVESTIGATION

After visiting one of the Bekasi hospitals treating the injured, President Prabowo Subianto said he had agreed to build a flyover near the railway tracks and that authorities would investigate the collision. He said large parts of the train network were not well-maintained.

Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) is investigating the crash.

On Tuesday, people rushed to the station with some looking for relatives.

WORKING CLASS SYMBOL

Commuter line trains are some of the busiest in Jakarta, the world's most populous city. On Tuesday, state railway company PT KAI said several commuter train trips were cut short due to the crash.

Adriansyah Yasin Sulaeman, an executive director of the think tank Forum Transport for Jakarta, said the government needed to improve the ageing railway network, including separating tracks for express long-distance trains and commuter trains. "These commuter trains are a symbol for the working class," he said. "It's a big alarm for the government to seriously improve it."