Police chopper crashes in Jambi

JAKARTA (JP): A police helicopter reportedly crashed yesterday afternoon between the Sekanah and Benaung Bays along the Jambi and South Sumatra border.

As of yesterday evening details of the crash were sketchy.

There was no immediate information on the number of people aboard, the number of casualties or the possible cause of the crash.

Jambi military commander Col. Supriadi was quoted by Antara as saying in Jambi that he had been informed of the crash by radio.

The crash site is estimated to be 100 kilometers from Sultan Taha Airport in Jambi, he said.

Supriadi said the reported location of the crash seemed to be closer to South Sumatra than Jambi.

Tanjung Jabung district military commander Lt. Col. Abdul Rahman said a team of police and military personnel were heading toward the village Suakadis to try and locate the helicopter.

Head of the Technical Unit at Hang Nadim Airport on Batam Island, Tatang Ikhsan, said that a police helicopter took off yesterday for Pekanbaru, the provincial capital of Riau.

He said the helicopter departed at 9:32 a.m. and should have arrived at 11:20 a.m.

But Tatang could not be sure that the helicopter which took off was the same as the one that reportedly crashed.

He explained that the helicopter which took off from Hang Nadim stayed overnight after a trip from Aceh.

It was due to fly directly to Pekanbaru, but because of the haze they decided to fly to Batam first, Tatang said.

Jambi and the surrounding areas have been enveloped by haze in the past few weeks due to brush and forest fires.

Antara reported the helicopter made contact at 10:30 a.m. saying that it would land in Pekanbaru in 50 minutes. There was no further contact.

The accident comes less than two weeks after a Garuda Indonesia Airbus crashed in Medan, North Sumatra, killing all 234 on board. (09/mds)