A pickup truck carrying a wedding party was crushed between two heavy goods vehicles on a busy highway in Indramayu, West Java, on Sunday afternoon, killing at least 12 people and injuring six others. The Daihatsu Gran Max was returning from a wedding celebration in neighbouring Parean village when the driver stopped in the right-hand lane to make a U-turn, according to local traffic police chief Undang Syarif Hidayat. A wing-box truck travelling in the same direction struck the stationary pickup from behind, hurling it into the opposite carriageway, where it was hit head-on by another lorry.

Police said the open-bed pickup was carrying 17 or 18 people, including the driver, all of them wedding guests from villages in Indramayu regency. Three victims died at the scene; the remainder succumbed to injuries at two local hospitals. By Monday, authorities had revised the death toll from an initial 13 to 12, citing a double-counting error in overnight reports. Six survivors, several of them children, remained hospitalised with injuries ranging from minor to serious.

While investigators have reconstructed the sequence of the collision, the precise cause remains under examination. A Traffic Accident Analysis team from the West Java regional police has been deployed to conduct a digital and scientific examination of the crash site. Two truck drivers have been detained for questioning, but no charges have been filed. Police have also noted that the pickup’s driver, who died after receiving medical treatment, was among the fatalities.

Deadly traffic accidents are common on Indonesia’s Pantura corridor, a vital artery for logistics and passenger travel along Java’s north coast. The use of open-bed pickup trucks to transport people, though illegal under the 2009 national traffic law, persists in rural areas where affordable public transport is scarce. Transport safety advocates and lawmakers have renewed calls for stricter enforcement and improved rural mobility options, warning that such practices dramatically increase fatality risks in collisions.

As of Monday, the investigation remained open, with police awaiting the results of the scientific analysis before determining any criminal liability. The incident has again highlighted the lethal consequences of using goods vehicles for passenger transport on Indonesia’s congested highways.