Plane crash victim found alive, after declare dead

Plane crash victim found alive, after declare dead

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In a miraculous story of survival, a passenger of a plane that
crashed in the remote jungle of East Kalimantan last week was
found alive after rescue workers declared him and another nine
people aboard dead.

Surprisingly, Bangau Samuel, the lone survivor in the crash,
had suffered only minor injuries to his face and hands, when he
was found by a local farmer at around 2 p.m. local time on
Monday.

Search and rescue workers announced that all 10 people aboard
had died, after locating the Britten Norman plane belonging to PT
Borneo Air Transport (BAT) last Wednesday. The aircraft crashed
atop a 1,620 meter-high mountain, some eight kilometers from its
intended destination of Yuvai Semaring airport in Long Bawan,
near the border with Malaysia.

PT BAT President Fhilipus Gaing confirmed on Tuesday that 20-
year-old Bangau was undergoing treatment at a health center in
Krayan district.

"District head Sarfianus told me via satellite phone that
local people had discovered Bangau alive," Fhilipus told Antara
in the provincial capital of Samarinda.

"But he is still in such a state of shock that he cannot talk
about the accident."

Fhilipus said Bangau was only wearing a black T-shirt and
underwear when the farmer spotted him near a rice field in Pa
Padi village, about five kilometers from the crash site. He was
emaciated and had difficulty keeping upright when he met the
farmer named Joki.

"He asked Joki for food because he had not eaten for days.
They walked along Krayan river before reaching the village. The
local authorities then took him to the health center and
immediately contacted his family," Fhilipus said.

Later on Monday, the residents of Pa Padi village took Bangau
to the house of Krayan district chief, who then sent the survivor
to a nearby health center.

Fhilipus said Bangau's mother Rosmiari had visited him and
confirmed he was among the passengers of the ill-fated plane.

His father Yuni Samuel was among the passengers killed in the
crash.

Other casualties were pilot Lt. Col. (ret) Suyamto, mechanic
attendant Apriansyah, and passengers Johannes, Mariam, Berli,
Frans, Fhilipus and Andreas. All of them were Krayan residents.

Fhilipus said the rescue party that had reached the crash site
may have believed all 10 people had died because some of the
bodies were dismembered.

"Perhaps, when the team and local people arrived at the site,
Bangau had already left, so it was not possible to identify him
during evacuation," he said.

Some Krayan residents quoted Bangau as saying he heard the
rescue team arrive at the crash site but he was too weak to
shout. It remains unclear whether he was inside or outside the
plane when the rescue workers came.

A number of Long Bawan residents also said the rescue team had
never evacuated the victims. They said the operation had been
carried out by some 300 local people.

Meanwhile, Abdul Haris, the head of Juwata Airport in Tarakan
said he was still waiting for the official report from the head
of Long Bawan Airport about Bangau's fate before he could fly him
back to his hometown.

"The victim will be flown to Tarakan to confirm the report,"
Haris said.