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20 Die in Indonesia Train, Bus Crash
At least 20 people were killed when a bus carrying Muslim pilgrims and a train collided in western Java, police and hospital officials said on Monday.
Most of the dead had been passengers seated in the rear of the bus, close to the impact area. Fourteen passengers were seriously injured in Sunday's accident near the town of Serang, 60 miles west of Jakarta.
Most of the victims were women on their way to visit Muslim holy sites, according to a nurse at the Serang General Hospital.
The rear of the bus was smashed and the vehicle overturned into a nearby rice field. Police were still questioning the bus driver and train officials.
Indonesia has had a string of fatal train crashes recently. Officials have blamed signal failures for most of the accidents.
A train collided with a passenger train in the same province just over a week ago, killing three people.
Last month, 42 people were killed when a passenger train crashed into a locomotive in the port city of Cirebon, about 120 miles east of Jakarta.
With the economic crisis forcing the government to slash the transport budget, trains in Indonesia are often poorly maintained and overcrowded with people riding on top of roofs and hanging out of doors.
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