Relatives receive victims' remains

JAKARTA (JP): Relatives of those killed in the Garuda Indonesia plane crash in Sibolangit, North Sumatra, finally swallowed the bitter reality yesterday as they identified and received the remains of their loved ones.

Some of them needed extra courage, mainly because they could only identify their loved ones from their clothes, accessories or special marks on their bodies as some of the remains were body parts.

As of yesterday, a forensic expert team at Adam Malik Hospital, in Medan, had completed a postmortem of 211 out of 234 people who died in one of the country's worst plane crashes.

A total of 171 bodies have been handed over to their respective families.

Antara reported from Medan that 63 of the remains were yet to be claimed of which 40 had been identified.

The Airbus A-300-B4 with 222 passengers and 12 crew on board crashed and exploded into pieces shortly before landing in Polonia airport in Medan.

Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said in Medan that identification would continue.

"We hope that all of the remaining bodies will be identified soon," he said in a TV interview.

Fifty-four bodies arrived here yesterday evening and were handed over to their respective relatives in an emotion-packed ceremony at Soekarno-Hatta airport.

Among the bodies were those of pilot Rachmo Wiyogo, co-pilot Soetomo, other crew members and private TV station SCTV reporter Ferdinandus Sius and cameraman Yance Iskandar.

Heavy rain forced the Garuda flight carrying the remains from Medan to be delayed four times, leaving 2,000 people waiting in Jakarta for more than five hours.

The plane finally arrived here at 7:15 p.m.

Upon arrival here, wailing relatives rushed to the coffins as they entered the Garuda hangar 2, the venue of the ceremony.

The mourners repeatedly called the names of their beloved ones, only to hear no answer.

"Who will I play with now, daddy?" Alvin Fardian, 12, the oldest son of pilot Rachmo, wept as he kissed the coffin of his father.

His seven-year-old brother, Aldri Rehardian, joined the reception.

The body of the 42-year-old pilot will be buried today at Tanah Kusir cemetery.

"We decided that if the body arrived home after 9 p.m., we would bury it the next day," said an uncle at the family's residence in Bintaro, South Jakarta.

Gusti Nurdin, a friend of deceased passenger, Nurbaidah Dahlan, said she had some foreboding inclinations before boarding the flight Friday.

"She told me she was reluctant to go to Medan because she was tired of traveling," Gusti said.

Nurbaidah was the dean of the Open University's School of Social and Political Sciences.

She flew to Medan to present certificates to teachers who were graduating from elementary and junior high school upgrading courses.

President Director of Garuda Soepandi, who presided over the ceremony, consoled the mourners and promised to conduct a thorough investigation into the accident.

As of yesterday, an investigation commission team had yet to find the flight data and voice recorder, popularly called the black box.

Employees of SCTV held a small ceremony to receive the body of Ferdinandus and Yance.

Ferdinandus' remains will be flown to Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, this morning where he will then be laid to rest.

Yance's body will be taken to his hometown of Sukabumi, West Java.

The two were assigned to report on the haze in Riau. But since the airport in Pekanbaru was closed, they decided to fly to Medan and then travel overland to Riau.

Minister Haryanto is this morning scheduled to lead the mass burial for the unidentified victims in Medan.

The burial will take place on the same grounds where 62 people who died in a 1979 Garuda Fokker-28 plane crash are buried. The 1,600 square meter area is located near Polonia airport.

President Soeharto, on the suggestion of Haryanto and North Sumatra officials, agreed Saturday to hold a mass burial for the victims.

In Medan, the rescue team was surprised to find two "mysterious bodies" among the crash victims yesterday.

A rescue worker who requested anonymity told Antara that the bodies were possibly local residents who were working in a nearby field when the plane crashed.

There was no confirmation available from forensic experts at the Adam Malik hospital.

Disappointment was lodged to the forensic team, however, as they ruled out the postmortem of Ester Monica Simanjuntak and instead declared the body was that of another woman, Wir Kumari.

Doctors said they reviewed the postmortem report following the second autopsy to verify the identification of the body.

One of the doctors, Amri Amir, told The Jakarta Post that the second examination was conducted after Wir's family claimed the body belonged to the 37-year-old woman.

"We found more accurate proof that the body was Wir's following the second examination," Amri said.

"The hospital is too small for doctors to conduct postmortem examinations. This is why some of them have not carried out their jobs properly," he added.

The body which was declared to be Wir's had been taken home by her brother Sarwan Kumar, amid protests from Ester's family.

As of yesterday, Garuda was yet to announce the full details of people killed in the plane crash, including their full names, address and where they had purchased their tickets.

A Garuda official at Polonia airport said he could not reveal the data, although pressure mounted on them following confusion about the exact identity of the victims.

Operational Director of Jasa Raharja insurance company Suheimi Pulungan said the company had not received the details yet, only a list of passengers from Garuda.

Detailed data of victims is required by the company to disburse compensation to relatives of the victims.

The next of kin of each passenger and crew member who died in the crash will receive Rp 40 million (US$13,560) in compensation.

"We guarantee the claim will run smoothly if we obtain detailed data," the company's president director Tabrani Toha said in Jakarta. (10/21/jun/amd)

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