Actress Vanessa Angel, Husband Die in Road Accident
Jakarta. Soap opera actress Vanessa Angel and her husband Febri Andriansyah died on Thursday after their SUV smashed a barrier at a high speed on a toll road in East Java, with police suspecting reckless driving and speed limit violation.
The couple’s toddler son, the driver, and a babysitter survived the accident.
Police said the accident occurred in Jombang toll road at around 12:36 p.m. The left side of the Mitsubishi Pajero hit a concrete barrier at Kilometer 673, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle.
The crash heavily destroyed the left side of the Pajero and threw it 30 meters away from the impact. The car made a 180-degree turn before it completely stopped.
Considering the state of the vehicle at the scene, it has possibly traveled at above 100 kilometers per hour,” East Java Police’s Traffic Director Chief Comr. Latif Usman said.
Vanessa, whose real name is Vanesza Adzania, was thrown out of the vehicle and Latif alleged she didn’t wear a seatbelt in the second row. Febri, 31, was killed in the car wreck in the front passenger seat.
Their son, Gala Sky Andriansyah, was miraculously conscious and brought to a nearby hospital along with the babysitter and the driver. The hospital confirmed that the boy and the driver only suffered minor injuries, but the babysitter identified as Siska Lorensa was in a more serious condition.
At the time of the accident, the traffic was quiet and the weather condition was good, traffic officer Dwi Sumrahadi said, adding driver’s sleepiness could be the major contributory factor leading to the deadly accident.
A preliminary investigation found no braking traces at the scene, further indicating a driver error. The identity of the driver has yet to be revealed.
Vanessa Angel (Instagram photo)
Vanessa, 27, has appeared in at least nine television soap operas and three movies between 2008 and 2018, mostly in a supporting role.
Several hours before the deadly crash, she posted an Instagram video from inside the car and wrote: “Can anyone guess where I’m going to?”
The footage apparently shot with her cellphone camera, also showed her son and the babysitter on the second row.
A lawyer for the couple said they will be buried in Jakarta on Friday.
The actress has received bad publicity in recent years. In January 2019, Vanessa was arrested at a hotel room in the East Java capital of Surabaya and charged with prostitution.
The Surabaya District Court found her guilty of illegal dissemination of pornographic contents under the draconian Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE) Law and sentenced her to five months’ imprisonment.
Late last year, she was sentenced to three months in prison for drug offenses but was freed after just a month to continue her term under house arrest.
