Indonesian among passengers on board doomed airliner<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian citizen Eric Samadikun Hartono, 20,
\nwas among the passengers on board American Airlines Flight 11,
\nwhich crashed into one of the twin 110-story towers of the World
\nTrade Center (WTC) in New York on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"I have received a report from our embassy in Washington that
\nan Indonesian passenger was among the casualties. He was on board
\nthe Boston-Los Angeles flight,\" said Sulaiman Abdulmanan,
\nInformation Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Mariana, a cousin of Eric told The Jakarta Post here that the
\nfamily was informed about the bad news by American Airlines on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
She said Eric, who was the youngest of Samadikun's five
\nchildren, lived in Menteng in Central Jakarta and was a
\nuniversity student in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
\"We still have no idea about his remains,\" Mariana said.<\/p>\n
Eric was in the process of moving to Los Angeles from Boston,
\nwhere he had been living for five years, Mariana said.<\/p>\n
Another report from the Indonesian Consulate in New York said
\nthat ten Indonesian employees were serving an apprenticeship in
\nWTC, he said.<\/p>\n
\"For sure, one of them is safe because this person happened to
\narrive late at the office in the WTC on that fateful day,\" he
\ntold The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Sulaiman, however, was unable to give details of the survivor,
\nadding that officials at the consulate were looking into this
\nmatter and were continuously updating reports.<\/p>\n
He said nearly 7,000 Indonesians worked and lived in New York
\nand surrounding cities. \"But, they live outside Manhattan where
\nthe incident took place,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Asked whether there were offices owned by Indonesian
\nbusinessmen, he said there were two branch offices of Bank Rakyat
\nIndonesia and Bank Indonesia and one restaurant, the Borobudur,
\nlocated 5 kilometers from the WTC in New York.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, an Indonesian official in New York confirmed on
\nWednesday that a number of Indonesians worked at the collapsed
\nbuilding, but said he was unable to produce an exact number.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN)
\nAgus Tafyono Sofyan said on Wednesday he was yet to receive an
\nofficial report about whether Indonesian citizens were among the
\ncasualties.<\/p>\n
\"So far, I have not heard about any Indonesians being among
\nthe casualties. But, I know many Indonesians work at the WTC,\"
\nAgus told The Jakarta Post by telephone from New York, \"even the
\nMayor of New York has yet to disclose the figure.\"<\/p>\n
In the meantime, a security guard at the office figured out
\nthat the casualty tolls would be disclosed within the next two or
\nthree days because the whole city was closed.<\/p>\n
\"The situation is still tense. People are still too afraid to
\nventure outside,\" said Dirjo.<\/p>\n
The permanent representative's office ceased activities
\ntemporarily soon after the terrorist incident took place and
\nemployees were ordered to go home early. (06\/08)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesian-among-passengers-on-board-doomed-airliner-1447893297",
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