26 found dead in S. Kalimantan boat crash
JAKARTA (JP): Rescue workers have found the bodies of 26 victims of Sunday's collision between two boats on the Barito River, South Kalimantan, but four others are still missing.
Antara reported yesterday that 21 survived the collision between a motorized boat and a tugboat towing a coal barge.
The number of casualties was revised from an earlier report that four died, 21 were missing and 21 others survived the accident in the Kapuas district, about two hours by speedboat from the provincial capital Banjarmasin.
The news agency also said there were an estimated 62 passengers aboard the boat that capsized on the river blanketed by thick haze. Visibility was less than five meters Sunday.
It did not explain the difference in the number of victims, who were mostly residents of the Dadahup transmigration settlement in Kapuas. They were on their way to a traditional market in Kabuau village, Kuripan district, Barito Kuala regency.
The authorities have yet to establish the exact number and identity of all the victims. There was no logbook on the boat because it was usually used to transport logs. Its navigator, 40- year-old Hadran, said the transmigrants persuaded him to transport them.
Hadran and the operator of the tugboat have been detained for questioning.
The accident has been blamed on the haze caused by forest fires in the surrounding areas.
The prolonged dry season has exacerbated the effects of forest fires in the country, leading to a host of other problems including health problems, airport closures, transport accidents, failed crops and starvation.
An Antara report from Samarinda, East Kalimantan, said yesterday the province's air was again polluted by smog. Residents were told to reduce outdoor activities or wear protective masks.
Rain and a change in wind direction had in the past few weeks relieved the province of the choking haze. About 10,000 residents were reportedly suffering from respiratory problems as a result of the air pollution which left layers of black dust in air filter equipment.
Another Antara report said fires flared again Monday and quickly spread across hectares of forest on Mt. Merbabu in the Ampel and Selo districts, Boyolali, Central Java.
Workers had three days earlier put out the fires in the same location. There was no information on why the fires reemerged.
On Mt. Ungaran in Semarang regency, also in Central Java, workers put out fires Monday that had ravaged about 25 hectares of brush forest.
In West Sumatra, about 400 hectares of cinnamon, passion fruit and tea plantations in Gunung Talang and Lembang Jaya districts, Solok regency, were razed by fires that broke out Saturday.
Workers were able to contain the fires yesterday that caused an estimated Rp 1 billion (US$303,030) loss, said Solok administration spokesman Wizarman.
Latest satellite photographs, obtained yesterday, showed 20 fires detected in South Sumatra, Jambi, Bengkulu, Riau, Lampung, West and Central Kalimantan provinces, according to the Environmental Impact Management Agency.
Indonesia's leading environmental watchdog, Walhi, has estimated that 1.7 million hectares across the country have been affected by the fires.
Help
International help continued to pour in yesterday. Antara reported that Japan will send another mission to Indonesia, comprising 43 experts to help control the forest fires and assist in disaster relief.
The mission consists of two experts from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, four from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the rest from the fire department. The team will leave Tokyo today and head to Sumatra to observe hot spots, or fire locations, from the air.
The Japanese team will deploy two helicopters equipped with special cameras. The results of the observation mission will be used to develop an effective fire fighting program.
Thick haze also forced a number of airports to remain closed yesterday. The International Sepinggan Airport in Balikpapan and the Temindung Airport in Samarinda canceled at least 175 domestic and international flights.
Tabing Airport in Padang, West Sumatra, was still closed as visibility was only between 300 and 400 meters. In Jambi, the capital of the province with the same name in Sumatra, visibility was only 35 meters yesterday.
Various other areas in South Sumatra, and West, Central, South and East Kalimantan registered visibility of between 100 and 500 meters.
Flight activities usually require visibility of at least 3,600 meters.
The Environmental Impact Management Agency said in its daily report yesterday the other airports that were closed yesterday were Supadio in Pontianak, West Kalimantan; Simpang Tiga in Pekanbaru, Riau; Sultan M. Badarudin in Palembang, South Sumatra; Tjilik Riwut in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan; Padang Kemiling in Bengkulu. Visibility at these airports ranged from 100 meters to 1,700 meters.
Maj. Gen. Johny Lumintang, the chief of Trikora regional military command in Irian Jaya, said the situation in the hunger- stricken Jayawijaya was critical.
He said food relief was depleting fast and about 90,000 residents will need extra help from now until April next year when they can farm again.
"These people will continue to need help in the next few months because their crops failed in the drought," he was quoted by Antara as saying from Jayapura. He was returning from a visit to Silimo village, Kurima district.
The situation was further worsened by a clean water shortage, and efforts to airlift relief to the difficult terrain were often hampered by thick haze.
The official number of drought-related deaths in Irian Jaya's Jayawijaya, Puncak Jaya and Merauke regencies since July was 461. The figure was lower than that calculated by nonofficial sources such as non-governmental organizations actively helping distribute relief to famine-affected areas. (swe)