Deadly train collision in Indonesia leaves 14 dead, dozens injured

At least 14 people have been confirmed dead and dozens others injured following a major train collision near Jakarta, in what Indonesian authorities say is one of the country’s most severe rail disasters in recent years.

The accident occurred late Monday, close to Bekasi Timur Station on the outskirts of the capital, prompting an overnight emergency response as rescue teams worked through damaged rail coaches in search of survivors.

According to officials, the sequence of events began when a taxi became stranded at a level crossing near the station, forcing authorities to suspend approaching train movements.

A commuter train later struck the vehicle, though no injuries were reported in that initial impact.

However, shortly after, an intercity train carrying about 240 passengers was unable to stop in time and crashed into a commuter train that had already halted at the station, said Franoto Wibowo, spokesperson for Indonesia’s state railway operator.

The impact caused extensive damage to several carriages, with emergency footage and images showing rescuers pulling injured passengers through broken windows and transporting others on stretchers to nearby medical facilities.

Mohammad Syafii, head of Indonesia’s national search and rescue agency, said emergency teams worked throughout the night to locate and evacuate survivors, successfully pulling multiple passengers from the wreckage.

Authorities confirmed that all 14 fatalities were passengers on the commuter train, while at least 84 others sustained varying degrees of injury.

The intercity train involved in the crash was en route from Jakarta to Surabaya, one of Java’s major economic centres, at the time of the incident.

Rail operations along the affected route remained disrupted on Tuesday as investigators began probing the circumstances of the crash, including why the intercity service failed to stop before the collision.