14 foreigners among Garuda crash victims

14 foreigners among Garuda crash victims

JAKARTA (JP): The Garuda Indonesia plane crash has touched
people from all corners of the world, with verification yesterday
that at least 14 foreigners were among the 234 people killed in
the tragedy.

The exact number of foreign victims and their nationalities
vary but Antara reported yesterday that the bodies of 14
foreigners were being kept at Adam Malik Hospital.

Those that have been confirmed include two Britons, two
Americans, six Japanese, a Malaysian and an Australian.

The British man killed in the Garuda Airbus crash last Friday
arrived in Indonesia just one day before and was on the ill-fated
flight because his original departure had been canceled.

Pete Wilson, 42, was a freelance consultant employed by
telecommunications company PT Ericsson Indonesia to supervise the
construction of a company tower in North Sumatra, a company
spokeswoman told The Jakarta Post here yesterday.

She said: "Pete was due to fly to Medan on Thursday with a
colleague but the flight was canceled. He then rebooked himself
on GA-152.

"The other person, having heard how full the flight was, said
he could wait until Monday but Pete said that someone had to go
because there was so much work to do."

She said Wilson was survived by his wife Linda, a 12-year-old
daughter and a seven-year-old son.

She did not know where he was from in the United Kingdom.

"We are all very sad here in the office," she said. "We just
can't believe that we have lost him."

The body would be repatriated either today or tomorrow, she
said.

The remains of the other Briton on the flight, identified by
the British Embassy in Jakarta as Sally Horseman, have still not
been identified.

The embassy spokesman said: "We believe she is among the three
unidentified Caucasian women who are still in the hospital in
Medan. She was not buried in the mass grave this morning."

He said Horseman's relatives were so distraught by her death
that they are not allowing any personal details to be released.

Five of the six Japanese passengers on board of the plane had
been identified, Antara reported yesterday.

Japanese Counselor General in Medan, Hosomoto, was quoted as
saying that the family of businessman Mr. Kudo -- the
unidentified Japanese citizen -- was still trying to locate his
remains at Adam Malik Hospital.

Today will be the last day for Kudo's family to identify their
loved one, otherwise he will have to be buried with the other
unidentified passengers in Medan.

According to Hosomoto, four of the Japanese victims would be
cremated in Medan while the family of the fifth would have the
body flown back to Japan.

Another foreign passenger on board was identified yesterday as
Mr. Chin Siew Fook, a Malaysian businessman from Kuala Lumpur,
Antara reported. His remains were cremated in Medan yesterday and
his ashes taken home by his family.

Malaysian Consular General in Medan Mohamad Nor expressed the
government's sincere gratitude to all parties who helped locate
Chin's remains and the hospital's forensic team who helped
identify the body. (jea/aan)