Crash victims' bodies sent home

Crash victims' bodies sent home

JAKARTA (JP): The remains of 10 victims of last week's Merpati
Nusantara Airlines crash in East Nusa Tenggara were returned to
their families yesterday.

In a solemn ceremony search and rescue leader Lt. Col. Adnan
handed over the remains to the East Nusa Tenggara governor
represented by Manggarai regent Gaspar Parang Ehok in
Labuhanbajo, to be returned to their families.

The charred bodies of the ten out of 14 victims of the Twin
Otter plane were identified as captain pilot Lovi Ibrahim Adji,
Johnny T. Saduk and passengers Muchtar, Hasni, Yongky, Mrs.
Halim, Wirawan, Cencen, Robby Gunawan and Subagyo Jasman. The
other four victims have yet to be identified.

The bodies were flown by three special planes to the victims'
home towns in Jakarta, Kupang, Semarang, Surabaya, Mataram and
Bima, Merpati Airlines spokesman Benny Achmad said.

The 16-seater turboprop aircraft went missing on its way from
Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, to Ruteng in Flores, East Nusa
Tenggara, last Tuesday.

The mutilated bodies and parts of the aircraft were found in
the Molo Strait between the islands of Flores and Rinca on Jan. 9
and Jan. 10.

Search and rescue workers are yet to locate the wreckage of
the plane, which had been part of the Merpati fleet for 20 years.(pan)