Angry mob attacks public hospital in West Kalimantan
Angry mob attacks public hospital in West Kalimantan
JAKARTA (JP): Troops fired warning shots on Thursday to
disperse a group of people who attacked a public hospital in
Singkawang, West Kalimantan.
Antara reported that a group of Madurese attacked the Abdul
Aziz General Hospital in the Sambas Regency capital, generating
panic among nurses, doctors and patients.
Security personnel member Sgt. Maj. Arsyad told the news
agency that 10 people were arrested for their alleged involvement
in the attack and were undergoing questioning.
It said the mob was looking for hospital figures for patients
treated in the hospital for injuries resulting from clashes on
Wednesday, during which security forces opened fire on thousands
of Malays and Dayaks, leaving at least three people dead and 20
injured.
Security personnel opened fire on Wednesday to disperse a
crowd marching to the local legislature. They demanded the
release of 70 people detained by police for allegedly provoking
recent communal unrest in the area. Police told the agency they
opened fire because the crowd suddenly changed direction and
rushed into the police station.
Head of the hospital Nurbassi told the news agency that up to
100 people were receiving treatment at the hospital, including 56
admitted with gunshot wounds.
Three of the 56 had died, Nurbassi said.
On Thursday, security personnel searched residential areas in
Singkawang, seizing scores of different weapons.
A number of areas in the province have been rocked by communal
clashes pitting Madurese against Malays and Dayaks since March.
At least 200 people have died.
More than 30,000 people have fled the riot-torn areas in
Sambas Regency. About 12,000 of them had taken refuge in sport
stadiums, military facilities and government buildings in the
provincial capital of Pontianak.
The agency also reported that at least 200 babies were
recently born in makeshift shelters in Pontianak and milk was in
short supply.
A team of Malay community leaders in Pontianak left for
Singkawang on Thursday to meet local leaders and calm residents.
Maluku
On Thursday, more than 1,300 people fled another riot-torn
area of Southeast Maluku by ships for their hometowns in Java,
South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi and North Sulawesi.
Local naval base commander Lt.Col. P. Joko Prakto told Antara
that the navy had prepared three of its ships to send thousands
of other refugees from 12 shelters in the Southeast Maluku
capital of Tual to their hometowns.
Coordinator of the exodus, Tamzil Linrung told The Jakarta
Post in Ujungpandang that 116,622 refugees would be sent home to
Maluku from South Sulawesi in stages starting on April 15 after
receiving training to assist them in their search for employment.
A number of villages have said they would take in the refugees
and several homes and public facilities have been rehabilitated.
Tual and the nearby areas, some 540 kilometers southeast of
the provincial capital of Ambon, have seen scenes of frenzied
violence between Muslims and Christians in which at least 80
people were killed during the last week.
The agency reported that more than 20,000 people had taken
refuge in mosques, churches and military facilities in the area
since the violence first erupted last Wednesday.
With 700 troops and police personnel were deployed to the
area, Tual was reportedly calm on Wednesday and Thursday.
More than 280 people have been killed in the months of
communal clashes in Maluku, which first erupted in mid-January.
Some 2,000 refugees fleeing the violence in Maluku arrived by
ship in the East Java capital of Surabaya on Thursday with an
additional group expected on Sunday.
Another 1,000 were expected to arrive from Sambas on Monday.
In Surabaya, scores of students from various universities took
to the streets protesting the Sambas violence. The students,
mostly of Madurese descent, demanded the ethnic cleansing cease.
Spokesman M. Mathur lashed out at security personnel in West
Kalimantan who, he said, had failed to resolved criminal
activity, leading to accumulated rage among residents.
(nur/byg/27)