Indonesia's rapid infrastructure drive takes deadly toll with serious accidents

Jakarta

A STRING of fatal accidents is threatening to derail Indonesia's relentless infrastructure drive ahead of the Asian Games, a push seen as a key to revving up growth in South-east Asia's biggest economy.

President Joko Widodo - who is counting on the construction advance for his 2019 re-election bid - temporarily halted all elevated transportation projects, after a dozen major accidents killed five and injured dozens more in recent months.

The stoppages include construction of Indonesia's first light rapid transit (LRT) and parts of a mass rapid transit system.

The LRT in Palembang - which is co-hosting the Games with Jakarta - is supposed to be operating by August when millions of v…