Indonesian police foil train hijack
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Xinhua, August 27, 2011
Indonesian police in Jakarta foiled a hijack on a train carrying hundreds of passengers during the peak of people exodus to home towns for celebrating the Islamic festivity on Saturday, spokesman of Transport Ministry Bambang Ervan said in Jakarta.
Three hijackers had hijacked the train from a station in West Java and forced the locomotive engineer to direct the train out of its route, which may have caused a crash during the rush hours as over tree million people are forecast traveling by train during the exodus, the spokesman told Xinhua by phone.
"This was very dangerous, the train could have a collision at any time," he said.
The hijackers were paralyzed by policemen when the train stopped at the Senen train station in Jakarta.
"Two of the hijackers have been arrested and another has escaped," said Ervan.
The arrest happened at the same time as Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo was inspecting the station. The arrest triggered panic among the mass as the police released two gun shoots.
About 16 million people in the Muslim dominated country are forecast to return homelands for the Islamic festivity this year.
