Indonesian ferry fire, train collision kill 16

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Two Indonesian passenger trains collided and a crowded ferry burst into flames Friday, killing 16 people and sending hundreds to the hospital, many in critical condition, officials said.

The accidents occurred 30 minutes apart on the main island of Java.

At 2:30 a.m., an eastbound train stopped on a track outside Banjar, a village in West Java province, and was hit head-on by another slow-moving train that was trying to switch lanes.

"We're still investigating," said Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for the Transportation Ministry, as rescuers shuttled dozens of injured to nearby hospitals.

Three people died, he said, revising the toll downwards after two other victims - wedged between the wreckage and previously thought dead - turned out to be alive.

Thirty minutes later and 225 miles (360 kilometers) to the west, a ferry carrying more than 400 people caught fire in waters just off Java, sending panicked passengers jumping into the water.

Ervan said 13 people were killed in the blaze, which broke out just 40 minutes after the ship left Merak port for neighboring Sumatra island.

Billowing clouds of black smoke could be seen from the shore, just a few hundred yards (meters) away, and five rescue ships rushed to the scene to bring frightened survivors to shore.

Nearly 200 were injured, some seriously, hospital officials said.

Rescue workers lifted victims onto stretchers and placed them into the backs of a pickup trucks. Elsewhere, a man was seen carrying a young child's covered body.

Ervan said the cause of the accident was still being investigated.

It appears the fire broke out on the deck used by cars and trucks loaded with cargo, he said. Witnesses on MetroTV blamed one of the drivers, saying he had thrown down a lit cigarette butt.

Indonesia, an archipelago nation with more than 17,000 islands and 235 million people, has been plagued by a string of transportation accidents in recent years, from plane and train crashes to ferry sinkings. Overcrowding, aging infrastructure and poor safety standards are often to blame.