Survivor found from crashed plane in Kalimantan

JAKARTA (JP): A woman passenger of the Britten Norman plane that crashed into the slopes of Mt. Saran in West Kalimantan last Monday survived the ordeal and was found after a search and rescue team had pronounced that there were no survivors.

The woman, identified as Intan Nurfitriana, was found in the jungle about one hour's walk from where the plane went down, the Antara news agency reported on Saturday.

Intan, a staff member of the West Kalimantan Forestry Office, was among the 10 people on board the BN-2A plane that crashed as it was flying from Pontianak, the province's capital, to Nanga Pinoh on Monday.

The plane, operated by the private PT Dirgantara Air Services, crashed about 30 miles from its destination.

The rescue party in West Kalimantan on Thursday had ruled out the likelihood of anyone surviving the crash.

As of Thursday, however, the team had only managed to find the bodies of six of the passengers.

Suprayitno said reports from the crash site suggested that Intan crawled away but left clues on her trail by breaking branches and pieces of torn clothes, which helped the search team find her.

She was treated temporarily where she was found while waiting for a helicopter to take her to a nearest hospital.

Intan was one of three officials of the West Kalimantan Forestry Office on board the plane. The other two have been identified among the bodies found. (emb)