Police name two suspects in British boyband tragedy
Police name two suspects in British boyband tragedy
JAKARTA (JP): The city police have declared two men as
suspects after four teenage girls died in a stampede at an
autograph-signing by British boyband a1 at the Taman Anggrek
shopping mall in West Jakarta on Sunday.
The two suspects, identified as Agung Wibowo and Soni Subagyo,
are both from Tarra Megastore (PT Nara Mitra Tarra), the host of
Sunday's event, city police chief of detectives Sr. Comr. Harry
Montolalu told reporters on Monday.
In a separate media conference, Lala Hamid, the promotions
director of Sony Music Entertainment Indonesia that brought the
group to Indonesia, announced that a1's visit here had been cut
short following the incident.
They left Indonesia, the last leg of an Asian promotional
tour, early on a flight to Singapore, a spokesman was quoted by
Reuters as saying.
In the Philippines capital Manila, the band canceled a similar
appearance at a mall when a crowd of more than 20,000 fans
stormed the complex, toppling barriers and breaking a window,
a1's official website said.
Harry revealed the two suspects had failed to inform police
beforehand about the event. Neither had they obtained a police
permit, the officer added.
"As a result, these two men are being investigated under
Article 359 of the Criminal Code on culpable negligence leading
to death," Harry said.
This article carries a maximum punishment of five years in
jail.
"The West Jakarta Police are also questioning people from the
mall's management for failing to have anticipated that such a
small venue as the Tarra Megastore could not possibly have
accommodated the huge crowd that came for the in-store signing
session," Harry said.
The fourth body was identified on Monday as Nurdian Wali,
whose father, Muthalib Ali, had been searching for her in several
hospitals on Sunday before finally heading to the morgue at the
Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital.
Morgue staffer Rachman said Muthalib arrived at about 2:30
a.m. on Monday, and was heartbroken when he saw the corpse of his
daughter.
"He seemed shocked. He refused to allow doctors to perform an
autopsy on his daughter... he was so hurt," Rachman told The
Jakarta Post.
Two of the four dead victims were identified as Rani Sintami,
13, and her sister Eka Wanti, 20, both from Tangerang, while the
other fatality was Indri Ayuningtyas Dharmawan, 17, a student at
Santa Ursula Senior High School.
Rachman added that Indri's father, Yoseph Dharmawan, had
initially not wanted to allow his daughter to attend the
gathering.
"He was telling us that his daughter called him old-fashioned
and stubborn for not allowing her to go. So, he relented,"
Rachman said.
"He said he allowed Indri to go with her sister Indah. When he
and his wife went to the mall to fetch the girls after the
gathering, only Indah showed up."
Separately, Sony Music Entertainment Indonesia conveyed its
deep remorse and condolences to the families of the victims.
"We are deeply shocked. The band is also very saddened by this
news and has therefore canceled the Jakarta concerts," the
company's promotions director Lala Hamid told a press conference
at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Monday.
"This is so very tragic, and we will do everything we can to
overcome the pain the families are feeling."
The company's managing director Sutanto Haryono added that
financial compensation would be given to the families of the
victims, but the actual amount had not yet been decided upon.
"No matter how much the compensation is, there is no bringing
back the girls to their families," he said, adding that the
amount was still being discussed with Sony Music. (ylt/01)