The death toll from a collision involving two trains outside Indonesia’s capital has increased to 14, with 84 others injured, according to the state railway operator, as emergency teams persist in efforts to free passengers still trapped in the wreckage.
The incident occurred late Monday in Bekasi, on the outskirts of Jakarta, when a commuter train and a long-distance train collided. Bobby Rasyidi, chief executive of Indonesia’s state railway company PT KAI, confirmed the updated casualty figures on Tuesday and noted that evacuation efforts remained underway.
Mohammad Syafii, head of Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, described the operation at a press conference early Tuesday as highly delicate. He emphasized the need for specialized personnel to carry out a careful extraction from the severely damaged carriages. “There are some victims who are alive to this minute and we’re hoping to extricate them, but they’re still pinned by the train material,” Syafii stated.
Rescuers have since separated the two trains, according to a Reuters witness at the scene. Teams were observed using angle grinders to cut through twisted metal in order to reach those trapped inside the compartments.
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According to Bobby Rasyidi, the commuter train initially struck a taxi on the tracks before being hit by the oncoming long-distance service. A women-only carriage sustained the heaviest impact. Taxi operator Green SM Indonesia confirmed via Instagram that the vehicle involved belonged to its fleet and said it had provided details to authorities to support the ongoing investigation. Green SM Indonesia operates as the Indonesian arm of Vietnamese electric-vehicle taxi company Green and Smart Mobility JSC, linked to Vingroup.
Following a visit to a hospital in Bekasi, President Prabowo Subianto announced plans to construct a flyover near the railway tracks to ease chronic traffic congestion in the area. He also directed authorities to thoroughly investigate the crash and acknowledged that significant sections of Indonesia’s rail network suffer from poor maintenance.
Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) has launched a formal probe into the accident. On Tuesday, anxious family members gathered at the station alongside rescue personnel. One man was seen weeping while clutching his brother’s blood-stained bag. Survivor Heriyati recounted that she had initially considered boarding the women-only carriage but chose the one behind it instead. She was speaking on the phone with her husband, arranging for him to collect her, when the impact occurred. “I haven’t even finished with the call and the trains collided,” she recalled.
Commuter services form a vital part of daily transport in Jakarta, one of the world’s most populous cities. PT KAI reported that several commuter train schedules were disrupted or curtailed following the collision.
Accidents involving land transport are not uncommon in Indonesia. In 2024, a separate train crash in West Java province resulted in four deaths and dozens of injuries.
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