Crash victim's body dug up, sent to hospital
Crash victim's body dug up, sent to hospital
JAKARTA (JP): The body of a victim of last Friday's Garuda
Indonesia crash was dug up yesterday, three days after being
buried in a cemetery in Depok, south of the city.
Agus Irawan returned the body, formerly identified as his wife
Retno Winarti, one of the stewardesses, because he was sure that
the body was not his wife's.
Agus felt sleepless after the burial. He even dreamed about
Retno, who asked him to fetch her from Medan, North Sumatra,
where the plane crashed.
"Why don't you fetch me? I'm still in Medan," Retno said in
the dream, according to Syafei, a worker at the Cipto
Mangunkusumo General Hospital's morgue.
Moreover, Agus's daughter aged one year and seven months has
fallen ill since the burial.
Agus flew to Medan after the crash and identified his wife's
body. Syafei said Retno's body might have been mistakenly
exchanged as it was put in the coffin, or that the casket might
not have been labeled correctly.
The body was admitted to the hospital morgue in Central
Jakarta at 11 a.m. yesterday and was classified as an unknown
victim.
Syafei said the Garuda security officers who brought him the
coffin just told him that the body was mistakenly buried as Retno
Winarti, who had resided in Ciomas in Bogor.
Retno's body was believed to have been among the 48
unidentified remains buried near Polonia Airport in Medan Monday,
he said.
The Garuda plane, flight number GA-152, crashed minutes before
it was due to land at Polonia Airport, killing all 234 people on
board.
Four Garuda executives, who accompanied the sending of the
coffin to the hospital yesterday, declined to comment on the
wrong identification of the body.
One of them just said, "It's over. Please don't ask us about
this. It's not easy for us."
The head of the hospital's forensic department, Budi Sampurna,
said such a mistake could happen in any accident involving many
victims.
"The identification process is very difficult because of the
very poor condition of the bodies and the limited number of
forensic doctors," he said.
Budi refused to give the result of yesterday's identification
to reporters.
Investigators thought they identified Retno very soon after
the crash because she was wearing a Garuda uniform. Her body was
sent to Jakarta Sunday together with two other victims -- the
reporter and cameraman employed by private television station
SCTV.
Mardiyono, the head of the morgue, said the coffin was sent to
the hospital without first being checked by the body's family. It
was still sealed and covered in dirt.
"After being unearthed, the family must have not opened the
coffin to make sure that the body really was not their family
member," he said.
The body will be kept in the morgue until it is claimed. (04)
JAKARTA (JP): The body of a victim of last Friday's Garuda
Indonesia crash was dug up yesterday, three days after being
buried in a cemetery in Depok, south of the city.
Agus Irawan returned the body, formerly identified as his wife
Retno Winarti, one of the stewardesses, because he was sure that
the body was not his wife's.
Agus felt sleepless after the burial. He even dreamed about
Retno, who asked him to fetch her from Medan, North Sumatra,
where the plane crashed.
"Why don't you fetch me? I'm still in Medan," Retno said in
the dream, according to Syafei, a worker at the Cipto
Mangunkusumo General Hospital's morgue.
Moreover, Agus's daughter aged one year and seven months has
fallen ill since the burial.
Agus flew to Medan after the crash and identified his wife's
body. Syafei said Retno's body might have been mistakenly
exchanged as it was put in the coffin, or that the casket might
not have been labeled correctly.
The body was admitted to the hospital morgue in Central
Jakarta at 11 a.m. yesterday and was classified as an unknown
victim.
Syafei said the Garuda security officers who brought him the
coffin just told him that the body was mistakenly buried as Retno
Winarti, who had resided in Ciomas in Bogor.
Retno's body was believed to have been among the 48
unidentified remains buried near Polonia Airport in Medan Monday,
he said.
The Garuda plane, flight number GA-152, crashed minutes before
it was due to land at Polonia Airport, killing all 234 people on
board.
Four Garuda executives, who accompanied the sending of the
coffin to the hospital yesterday, declined to comment on the
wrong identification of the body.
One of them just said, "It's over. Please don't ask us about
this. It's not easy for us."
The head of the hospital's forensic department, Budi Sampurna,
said such a mistake could happen in any accident involving many
victims.
"The identification process is very difficult because of the
very poor condition of the bodies and the limited number of
forensic doctors," he said.
Budi refused to give the result of yesterday's identification
to reporters.
Investigators thought they identified Retno very soon after
the crash because she was wearing a Garuda uniform. Her body was
sent to Jakarta Sunday together with two other victims -- the
reporter and cameraman employed by private television station
SCTV.
Mardiyono, the head of the morgue, said the coffin was sent to
the hospital without first being checked by the body's family. It
was still sealed and covered in dirt.
"After being unearthed, the family must have not opened the
coffin to make sure that the body really was not their family
member," he said.
The body will be kept in the morgue until it is claimed. (04)