Chinese tourists get help after bus crashes in Indonesia

SUBANG, Indonesia - Emergency aid have been given by local police, medical service and volunteers after a bus carrying 23 people including 10 Chinese mainland tourists and 9 Taiwan holidaymakers crashed in the Indonesian province of West Java on Monday.

The Chinese embassy in Jakarta and local Chinese community also gave assistance to the survivors of the deadly road accident.

Three Chinese mainland tourists and a local guide were killed and 15 other passengers injured after their bus overturned in Subang district at about 11:50 am Jakarta time on Monday, Harman R. Sitorus, head of traffic unit of the district police station, told Xinhua on Wednesday.

Sitorus said that he reacted immediately after he received the report of the accident, ordering his personnel to rush to the scene.

"On the scene, I saw two people were dead underneath the bus, while some other passengers have been wounded," he said.

Five ambulances had come to bring the victims to the nearby health clinic for first medical help, said Sitorus.

Then all the victims of the accident were rushed to hospitals in Bandung, the capital of West Java province. The bodies were sent to Hasan Sadikin hospital, and the wounded were brought to Santosa Hospital for medical treatment, he said.

"Four Chinese tourists were seriously injured, and the others got minor injuries." Ali J. Pulungan, head of the traffic unit at Ciater sub-district police office, told Xinhua.

The bus was heading from Bandung to the Ciater spring water, which was about three kilometers away from the scene of the accident, he said.

Xinhua reporters saw the wreckage of the bus and the motorcycle at the district police station. The bus was damaged with all windows broken and the motorcycle was totally destroyed.

Sitorus said that he had sent several personnel to the Santosa hospital to monitor and guard the injured tourists during the medical treatment. "Our task is to give aid to the victims," he said.

Officials from the Chinese embassy, led by the first secretary Mr Hua Yuping, arrived at Santosa hospital on Wednesday offering assistance to the victims of the accident.

"I came here to offer help because I have been very close with the owner of this hospital which I think would contribute to helping them," Halim Purnomo, an Indonesian of Chinese descent, told Xinhua.

Sitorus said that the result of the investigation is expected to be known in coming days.

Some local media said that the cause of the accident was the failure of brake system, an allegation admitted by Ali J Pulungan.

He said the bus lost control on descending slope of the street at Ciater villagebefore it hit a motorcycle coming from opposite direction.

The bus rolled to the left side of the road, leaving a Chinese tourist and an Indonesian tour guide dead on the spot.