Crash victims angry at govt's slow response<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan<\/p>\n
It sounds almost biblical, but living in a stinking chicken coop
\nwas hardly a spiritual experience for Priono and his family.<\/p>\n
But the three-meter by four-meter coop is all they have now,
\nwith their house, along with their three kiosks, being among the
\n30 houses destroyed by fire when a Mandala Airlines aircraft
\nslammed into the Padang Bulan residential area on Monday,
\ncreating an inferno on the ground.<\/p>\n
\"The house and everything were burnt to the ground. What's
\nleft is the clothes we wear and this chicken coop, where we
\nstayed last night,\" Priono told The Jakarta Post on the site of
\nwhat was his house.<\/p>\n
He was grateful, however, as all his family members were safe
\nand alive as all of them managed to flee through the back door
\nwhen fire blasted through the front of the house. Priono managed
\nto go back into the house to get his daughter who was asleep.<\/p>\n
Four tailors who rented the three kiosks he owned, which were
\nlocated alongside his house, however, were burnt to death.<\/p>\n
Priono said he was upset as the government was slow in handing
\nrelief efforts for residents whose houses were destroyed in the
\nplane crash.<\/p>\n
\"Up until today, we haven't received anything from the
\ngovernment nor Mandala Airlines. Fortunately, there have been
\nfriends who have donated food, otherwise we would have starved,\"
\nhe said, angrily.<\/p>\n
Along with Priono, other residents hoped that government or
\nthe airline would pay compensation for their losses.<\/p>\n
The Mandala Airlines Boeing 737-200 crashed into the densely
\npopulated Padang Bulan residential area in North Sumatran capital
\nof Medan after it failed to takeoff, leaving at least 150 dead
\nand many others seriously injured, including those on the ground.<\/p>\n
Some 30 houses were destroyed by fire, with six houses and
\nthree kiosks being totally burnt to the ground. Wreckage from the
\nplane and burned vehicles littered the usually busy Jl. Djamin
\nGinting, which borders the airport.<\/p>\n
Erni Josanka Ginting, 23, who lost her pregnant aunt in the
\nfire as well as destroying her house and shophouses, said that
\nher material losses were around Rp 3 billion (US$300,000).<\/p>\n
She also bears emotional trauma, and has panic attacks every
\ntime she hears the sound of an aircraft.<\/p>\n
Acting chairman of PT Mandala Airlines Indonesia, Maj. Gen.
\nAsril H. Tanjung, said that the company would pay for any
\nfinancial losses suffered by the residents.<\/p>\n
\"We will pay compensation. But now, our team is still
\ncalculating it,\" he said on Tuesday, while visiting the crash
\nsite.<\/p>\n
During his visit to the crash site on Tuesday morning,
\nPresident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also promised residents
\ncompensation.<\/p>\n
Susilo said that at the moment, the government and the
\nairlines were still calculating the material losses suffered by
\nresidents.<\/p>\n
\"When the time comes, after the calculation is complete, there
\nwill be compensation,\" Susilo said during his brief 15-minute
\nvisit to the site.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/crash-victims-angry-at-govts-slow-response-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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