Jakarta (ANTARA) - Several residents of Cipayung sub-district, East Jakarta, have claimed they heard a loud sound around the time two LRT (Light Rapid Transit) trains collided in the Munjul segment on Monday.
One of the residents, Erbi (24) claimed he heard a "loud bang" around 12:30 p.m. and rushed to the location of the collision where he witnessed smoke emerging from the train.
"There was a noise (of trains colliding), explosions, and screaming. There was smoke coming out, and the surrounding residents were all out. It was the train," he said.
Meanwhile, Isnarti (42), also reported hearing the sound of the collision. "I noticed the sound of the explosion, I thought it was a car or its tire had popped, but it turned out that it was a train crash," she informed.
At the site of the collision, as reported by ANTARA, one train from the LRT circuit was seen on top of another. A giant, orange thick cloth covered the damaged LRT circuit.
Despite the accident, traffic flow on the Jagorawi Highway from both directions was monitored smoothly, officials said. Highway Patrol and Jasa Marga (the toll road company) officers were seen managing traffic around the site.
One of the Light Rapid Trains (LRT) was undergoing the test phase on the Munjul overpass, East Jakarta, officials said.
However, an official informed that the light rail operator was Jabodetabek LRT, not PT LRT Jakarta.
"The crashed one is Jabodebek LRT's train, not ours," head of the corporate secretary division of PT LRT Jakarta, Ira Yuanita, said when contacted.
After the crash, the East Jakarta Fire and Rescue Service (Gulkarmat) immediately dispatched a rescue unit from the Cipayung sector to the location.
Operational section head of the East Jakarta Gulkarmat, Gatot Sulaeman, revealed that the LRT train was in the test phase and there were no passengers on board.
"It is said that the train was being tested, so it was empty, but the team has not been able to get accurate information," Sulaeman added.