Victims' identification painfully slow

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): Relatives of the 234 victims of the Garuda Indonesia plane which crashed near here Friday began the painful task of identifying their loved ones yesterday.

This proved to be difficult, agonizingly slow and for many, stranded in Jakarta by the haze, impossible.

The remains, put in sealed plastic bags, began arriving on military trucks at Adam Malik Hospital in the morning.

Their arrival was greeted by hysterical wailing from the hundreds of people jamming the hospital's entrance.

For some of the remains, the only clues to their identity were pieces of clothing -- salvaged from the wreckage -- and attached to the bags to help identification.

Rescue workers had taken 214 bags to the hospital by early evening, but only 24 bodies had been identified.

Those identified included pilot Rachmo Wiyogo, and three stewardesses; Soelistyowati, Retno Margaretha, and Abar Sabariah, a hospital official said. Their bodies are to be flown to Jakarta today, weather permitting.

The others identified include the SCTV crew, Ferdinandus Sius and Yance Iskandar.

Antara also listed Junjung Sitorus, Burhanuddin, Amiruddin Harahap, Syahrial, Rajin Tarigen Sibero, Mulyono, Andi Pudianto, Lukman Hakim, Darna and Agus Salim among those identified.

There was no news about Polar Yanto Tanoto, the president of PT Inti Indorayon Utama, who was on board the ill-fated plane.

The relatives came armed with photos and other personal belongings of the victims, including medical and dental records, to help with the identification process.

Some of those that were identified were released to their relatives. Preparations were being made for others to be flown to Jakarta.

The Airbus A-300-B4 en route from Jakarta crashed shortly before landing Friday afternoon. Although Garuda has not declared as much, rescue officials said there was no hope of anyone surviving and that the 222 passengers and 12 crew members were all killed.

Anxiety turned to outrage at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta airport where hundreds of relatives of the victims waited, and waited, for the chance to be flown to Medan.

Garuda was providing a Boeing-747 to take them to Medan to help the authorities with the identification process.

The airplane was originally scheduled to leave at 10 a.m.. The flight was postponed because Medan's Polonia airport was closed due to thick haze.

Many of them arrived as early as 5 a.m. and were checked in by Garuda and proceeded to the waiting lounge. The long wait and uncertainty added to their grief and pain, and eventually gave way to confusion and anger.

"Garuda isn't giving us enough attention. They've neglected us for hours," one man said early in the afternoon.

Some vented their frustration at reporters who hounded them with probing questions all day long.

"Don't be paparazzi," one man shouted at photographers.

Some of them made alternative arrangements, booking on the next available ship to Medan.

Only in the late afternoon, when it became apparent that the plane would not be able to leave, did Garuda decide to put them up at the Sheraton Bandara and other hotels near the airport.

Pujo Baroto, a Garuda public relations officer, said yesterday that the plane was now scheduled to leave at 4 a.m. today.

But even this looked doubtful last night with visibility at Polonia reported to be a mere 200 meters.

Relatives of the 12 crew members killed in the plane were also picked up from their homes and put up at the airport hotel.

Meanwhile, Garuda and the Ministry of Transportation remained tightlipped about the probable cause of the accident.

The investigation will almost certainly look into the possibility that haze, which has been shrouding Medan for the past week, could have blurred the pilot's visibility.

Officials said visibility at Polonia airport at the time of the crash was 600 meters, good enough to keep the airport open.

Rescue workers found the wreckage of the GA 152 flight in a 500-meter ravine in Sibolangit district, Deli Serdang regency some 30 km from Medan.

The plane was shattered into pieces as were many of the victims.

Collection of the remains was a time-consuming process and carrying them up the ravine was an even more daunting task.

Each body bag had to be carried by at least four people through the bushy undergrowth.

The remains were wrapped in sarongs when the rescue workers ran out of plastic bags.

About 1,500 soldiers took part in the operation.

The government had hoped to complete the evacuation and identification process quickly, and to hand over the identified remains to relatives by yesterday afternoon.

But with identification difficult, the head of the North Sumatra Transportation Office, Aswin Harahap, proposed a mass burial for all the unidentified victims at a site to be determined jointly by the provincial administration and the victims' relatives.

North Sumatra Governor Raja Inal Siregar said he was waiting for a ruling from religious leaders on a mass burial, given that the victims were of different religions, Antara said.

Last night, President Soeharto agreed to the proposal for a mass burial, Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono announced in Jakarta.

The burial could be held near the crash site tomorrow, giving relatives of the victims time to reach Medan, Moerdiono said.

Moerdiono said the President urged the authorities to take every necessary step to allow the relatives of the victims to reach the crash site.

Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto, who had flown to Medan during the night, went to the crash site to oversee the evacuation operation.

Haryanto returned to Jakarta yesterday on board a Jetstar.

Rescue workers had still not located the flight data and voice recorders -- popularly known as the black box -- by yesterday evening. Their data will be crucial in determining the cause of the crash.

The government appointed M. Diran of the Ministry of Transportation to head the investigation team, Director General of Air Transportation Zainuddin Sikado said.

Zainudin told reporters at Polonia airport that it would probably be three to four months before the cause of the crash could be known.

In the meantime, Garuda would continue to operate its fleet of Airbus A-300s because there was no reason to ground them, he said.

Antara reported that the plane was equipped with the somewhat outdated Omega Navigator System. Most planes are now equipped with Global Position System.

Earlier reports suggested that Capt. Rachmo, had requested navigation landing instructions from Polonia's control tower. Five minutes later, the plane lost contact and disappeared from the radar.

Polonia airport was closed all morning and afternoon yesterday because of the haze.

All the morning and afternoon flights bound for Medan from Jakarta were canceled. A flight that left at 6.30 a.m. returned to Soekarno-Hatta airport an hour later. (21/jun/10/prb/emb/mds)