Illustration of an accident in Tanjakan Emen, Subang, West Java (Photo source: Tribunnews).
Jakarta. A fatal collision involving a small minivan and a bus carrying school students had resulted in a death toll of 8 people and injured 17 people. Out of the total fatalities, 7 are students from the Al-Huda High School, Cengkareng, Jakarta.
The accident took place at Tanjakan Emen, a hilly road connecting Bandung, Lembang and Subang, West Java on Tuesday (17 June 2014).
As reported by Kompas.com, the bus, which was carrying 54 high school students, was going downhill just before it lost control. The bus, which allegedly had a brake problem then hit an upcoming minivan, a Toyota Kijang that was going the opposite direction. The minivan was carrying 5 people.
Following the collision, the bus then rolled into a tea plantation located on the slope next to the road. “The death tolls include 7 students and the bus driver. They have been brought to Ciereng Hospital in Subang,” according to the Head of the Public Relations Unit of the Java Police, Commissioner Martinus Situmpul as quoted by Kompas.com.
This is apparently not the first accident that happened in Tanjakan Emen, a road section with mystical stories according to residents living in the area. One such legend was previously shared by a Kompasiana blogger, Dadan Wahyudin.
According to the story, the reason why this hilly section of the Bandung-Subang road is referred as ‘Tanjakan Emen’ is because of an oplet driver named Emen, who lost his life in an accident on the road. In a form of minivan that can carry up to 8 people, oplet or angkot is a common public transportation in Indonesia.
In a post entitled ‘Passing through the Legendary Tanjakan Emen, Cieter Subang’, Dadan wrote about the local believe in which “Emen was known as a daredevil driver. Emen drove his oplet enroute from Bandung to Subang. At the area, he died in an accident while transporting salted fish from Ciroyom, Bandung towards Subang in 1964.” Now, as accident frequently happens in this road section, the locals believe that Emen’s spirit still haunts the area and can ‘disturb’ those who are driving in Tanjakan Emen at night.
Indonesians love mystical stories. However, whether such legend can be logically linked to the cause of the recent accident still requires forensic evidence.
Source: Kompas and Tribunnews