Indonesians victims of U.S. road crash to be sent home
Indonesians victims of U.S. road crash to be sent home
JAKARTA (JP): Officials at the Indonesian Embassy in
Washington were preparing to send home the bodies of five
Indonesians killed in a road crash in Ogalala, a small town in
Nebraska, on Monday, Antara reported yesterday.
The five victims include four education experts who were
studying at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. The fifth was
the wife of another passenger, who survived the ordeal.
The embassy identified the victims as Moh. Topo Budoyo, 30,
and Dwiyani Kusumastuti, 31, both from the Malang Teachers
Training Institute (IKIP Malang), and Wahyu Winarni, 30, and Agus
Sudarso, both from IKIP Mataram.
The fifth victim was identified as Titik Wiryatmo, 31.
Heru Widiatmo, Heruminus Purwanto and Yayuk Mardiati from IKIP
Jember were badly injured in the crash. Tiksno Widyatmoko (IKIP
Malang), Sofyan Salam (IKIP Ujung Pandang), Emanuela Catur
Resmiati (IKIP Yogyakarta) and Yudo Sasongko (IKIP Malang)
suffered minor injuries.
The group were in a van on their way back to Iowa after an
outing in Denver, Colorado. The accident occurred on Highway 80
just outside Keith County in Nebraska.
According to the embassy, the car slid and hit the shoulder of
the highway before slamming into a parked truck.
The bodies of the five victims were being kept in a funeral
house in Keith County while those injured were staying in Ogalala
hospital before being transported to Iowa City, said Antara.
The news agency said that an official from the Washington
embassy and an official from the Indonesian consulate in Chicago
were traveling to Ogalala to lend assistance.
The education experts were taking part in the Indonesian
Primary Education Project being run by the University of Iowa and
the Ministry of Education and Culture.
The project's director, Prof. Paul Retish, was the first to
alert the Indonesian embassy of the accident.
IKIP Malang is devastated by the tragic loss of two of its
teaching staff. One of the victims, Dwiyani, is also the daughter
of Prof. Soenarjo, who lectures at the institute. (emb)