Seven klled in rail crossing crash

A cargo train collided with a minibus in central Java early today, killing seven people and injuring three others, police and paramedics said.

The accident occurred outside the city of Pekalongan, about 350 kilometres (220 miles) east of the Indonesian capital Jakarta, said Sgt Solihin, a Pekalongan traffic police officer.

All of the seven who died were in the minibus, said Eni Nur, a nurse at the Keraton Hospital where the bodies were taken.

Police suspect that a guard at the rail crossing failed to lower the gate as the train approached, Solihin said.

Train accidents are not unusual on Indonesia’s ageing railway network. Ten people were killed in April when a train crashed into a minibus on Java, and 19 people died in similar accidents last year.