Indorayon president among victims

JAKARTA (JP): Businessman Polar Yanto Tanoto, who just a day earlier had received an award from President Soeharto, is one of the tragic stories in yesterday's crash which claimed 234 lives including two children and several foreigners.

As president of PT Inti Indorayon Utama, Polar represented one of the 66 companies rewarded by Soeharto for its outstanding achievements in non-oil exports.

The company's public relations officer, Rizani, told The Jakarta Post that Polar was on his way home to Medan.

Polar had also served in the international trade division of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in North Sumatra.

Two television journalists from SCTV were also on board the flight ill-fated flight. Reporter Ferdinandus Sius and cameraman Yance Iskandar had been sent to cover the haze problem in the area.

Colleagues at the television station said they were bound for Pekanbaru, Riau. But since the airport there was closed they decided to go to Medan instead and travel overland to Pekanbaru.

Medan is about 450 kilometers from Pekanbaru.

Ferdinandus was single but Yance is survived by a wife and one child.

Among the foreigners on board were six Japanese.

Kazuo Yagi, second secretary at the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta, confirmed that two of them -- Otake, 60, and Tomimura, 49, -- were officials at the Jakarta office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Relatives of the victims started filtering into the Garuda head office in Central Jakarta about four hours after the crash occurred.

There they looked with dread through the flight manifest to confirm whether their loved ones had been aboard.

Two Americans were also on board.

Polonia airport officials were quoted by Antara as saying that the two Americans were Loyd Herr and Hase Herr. Both were working for PT Gas Alam Arun in Lhokseumawe, Aceh.

Antara also reported that a travel agency from Bali had called to say that four German tourists were booked on the flight.

However this report could not be independently confirmed.

Suhaimi Pulungan, director of the state-owned insurance company PT Jasa Raharja, said each of the victim's families would receive Rp 40 million (US$13,550) in compensation.(10/jun/das)