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)