A devastating rear-end train collision outside Indonesia’s capital Jakarta on Monday has left at least four people dead and dozens more injured, with emergency crews currently working to extract trapped passengers from the wreckage, Indonesian authorities confirmed.
According to state media reports, the crash unfolded when an incoming long-distance commuter train struck a stationary commuter train that was idle on the same track near Bekasi Timur Station, roughly 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from central Jakarta. Anne Purba, a spokesperson for Indonesia’s state-owned railway operator Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), confirmed the initial fatality count and reported that 38 injured people have already been transported to local medical facilities for treatment.
“KAI expresses its deepest condolences to the victims and their bereaved families,” Purba said in an official statement.
Local media has broadcast footage from the crash site showing injured patients being moved on medical stretchers near the station, alongside images of rescue teams using specialized equipment to reach passengers still stuck inside damaged train carriages. Jakarta Police Chief Inspector General Asep Edi Suheri told reporters that six to seven people remain trapped in the wreckage as of the latest updates.
Multiple eyewitnesses shared harrowing accounts of the collision with the BBC’s Indonesian service. One passenger recalled that commuters on board screamed hysterically immediately after impact, while other witnesses reported seeing large numbers of injured victims in the immediate aftermath of the crash.
Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives, who visited the crash site shortly after the incident, warned that the confirmed death toll could climb as rescue teams clear the wreckage and account for all passengers. Officials have not yet released a final count of total casualties, as operations to reach trapped passengers are still ongoing.
This collision marks the latest major railway accident to hit Indonesia’s public transport network, which has long faced criticism for its high overall accident rate. Industry analysts and safety advocates have repeatedly linked the country’s poor railway safety record to chronically ageing infrastructure and insufficient systemic maintenance. In January 2024, a separate collision between two trains in a Cicalengka rice field killed multiple people and injured dozens more, leaving both trains’ carriages derailed and heavily damaged.