14 Dead, 84 Injured in Train Collision Near Jakarta; Rescue Workers Race to Free Trapped Passengers

Jakarta: The death toll from a train collision near the Indonesian capital Jakarta has climbed to 14, with 84 others injured. Rescue workers are engaged in an intensive operation to free passengers still trapped within the mangled compartments.

The collision occurred on Monday evening in Bekasi, on the outskirts of Jakarta, when a passenger train struck a taxi that had strayed onto the railway track, after which a long-distance train ploughed into the women's compartment of the passenger train, said PT KAI Chief Executive Bobby Rikhardian.

Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency chief Muhammad Syafi told a press conference on Tuesday that extracting people from the wreckage was an extremely difficult process, but expressed hope that those still trapped could be brought out alive.

The taxi involved in the accident has been identified as belonging to Green SM Indonesia, a company under Vietnamese electric vehicle firm VinGroup.

Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee has launched an investigation into the circumstances of the accident.