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)