Train Hit Water Buffalo in Malang

PT KA Daops VIII mengaku tergulingnya KA Penataran jurusan Blitar-Surabaya terguling karena seekor kerbau melintas di KM 42+3 antara Stasiun Blimbing-Singosari, Malang.

"KA Penataran ini terguling karena ada kerbau melintas. Kecepatan KA 60 hingga 75 KM/jam tak mampu menguasai KA dan akhirnya terguling," kata Humas PT KA Daop VIII, Nur Amin kepada detiksurabaya.com, Jumat (4/9/2009).

Dia menambahkan, pihaknya juga sedang melakukan penyelidikan lebih lanjut apakah ada penyebab lain hingga KA Penataran terguling dan menyebabkan asisten masinis, Darsono (40) tewas di lokasi.

"Kereta yang anjlok antara lain 1 loko terguling, 1 KA terguling dan 1 KA anjlok," tambahnya.

Sebelumnya KA Penataran jurusan Blitar-Surabaya terguling di KM 42+3 antara Stasiun Blimbing-Singosari, Malang sekitar 13.50 WIB. Saat itu KA berloko CC 20144 dimasinisi Wibowo, asisten Darsono. Namun saat kejadian, Darsono terjepit di ruang kemudi.

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More evacuation drills needed, say experts

A construction expert said that well-constructed high-rise buildings in Jakarta could stand an earthquake up to a magnitude of 8, if the epicenter was not in Jakarta.

However, an architect said that a lack of emergency procedures from building management meant that casualties and injuries could still occur. He suggested that workers should demand their right to safety and emergency procedures in their offices.

Ahmad Juhara from the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Association of Architects said Thursday that office workers should demand standard operational procedures for emergencies and also evacuation drills.

"There should be a person designated to manage emergency situations," he said.

Jakarta was among the cities affected by the 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the southern coast of West Java.

Office workers rushed out of their buildings through emergency stairwells. "Yesterday's quake had a magnitude of 7.3, if it reached 8.0, which is 10 times bigger, buildings in Jakarta would still stand," said the chairman of the Association of Indonesian Construction Experts, Davy Sukamta.

However, Davy said that residential houses were more prone to damage as they were not usually designed to weather earthquakes.

Ahmad said disaster preparations should be included in the initial stages of building construction and should be handled by certified construction services.

"There should be emergency stairwells that can accommodate the number of people in the building and an assembly area downstairs," he said.

"I was at the doctor yesterday and saw a man who was treated because his foot got stuck in an escalator during the earthquake. Elevators should also be shut down *during earthquakes*, except for one that can be used by firefighters," he said.

Project director and the general manager of PT Buana Sakti, and the owner of the Sampoerna Strategic Square building in Sudirman, said his company had a risk control team that was drilled to take command in emergencies.

"There are people who are responsible for giving announcements and others who guide tenants to safety," he said

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Survivors start clearing up débris

Does God test us?: A man prays besides his injured wife in a makeshift tent set up by local media teams after an earthquake in Pengalengan, about 30 kilometers from Bandung, West Java. The 7.3 -magnitude quake killed at least 57 people and damaged thousands of homes. Reuters/Supri

Survivors of the 7.3-magnitude earthquake that devastated Tasikmalaya, West Java, and many other parts of the island of Java on Sept. 2, started clearing up the débris from their damaged homes on Thursday.

Male residents from the village of Cigalontang, the Jayapura and Cigalontang districts, were seen collecting items from the ruins while children and women in the community were sitting among the rubble.

Following the earthquake, residents were forced to eat their sahur (early breakfast before the start of fasting) meals in makeshift tents erected by the local police for earthquake refugees.

Most residents said they preferred to stay in the tents because they were either too afraid to go back to their houses — in case there were more earthquakes — or because their houses were too damaged.
“Over half of the people’s houses in the Jayapura subdistrict are damaged,” Cigalontang village head Au Kurniawan, 56, said.

Siti Hanifah, 47, a Cigalontang resident, said she had never experienced an earthquake of that
magnitude.

“The last time I felt a big earthquake was when Mt. Galunggung erupted in 1982,” she said.

Siti added she had didn’t know yet how and when she would rebuild her damaged house.

She expressed hope the government would lend her a hand to rebuild her house, so her life could go back to normal.

On Wednesday night, most of the villagers, especially women and children, slept in the tents, while men guarded their respective damaged houses.

According to Au, there are at least 680 families living in some 550 houses in the Jayapura subdistrict, which consists of four villages.

Data from the West Java provincial administration shows the 7.3-magnitude earthquake, whose epicenter was located 142 kilometers southwest of Tasikmalaya, West Java, and which originated 30 kilometers below the seabed, killed at least 43 people, injured hundreds of others and damaged hundreds of houses.

The provincial administration reported nine deaths in Tasikmalaya, nine in Garut, seven in Bandung, two in Sukabumi, 10 in Cianjur, two in Bogor, and four in Ciamis.

Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah said the government would prioritize looking after victims over providing them with aid to rebuild their damaged houses.

“We’ll focus on the people’s health and logistical supplies first,” he said during his visit to a number of hard-hit regions in Tasikmalaya.

West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan said his administration had allocated Rp 30 billion from its budget to provide emergency services for the victims of the earthquake.

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