Young survivor reunites with parents

Young survivor reunites with parents

Hundreds of people took part on
Wednesday in a mass burial for unidentified victims of an
Indonesian jetliner crash that killed 149 people, some weeping
uncontrollably as they watched soldiers and police lower the
wooden coffins into a grave.

But on the other side of town, one mother and father were
quietly celebrating: their five-year-old son, who had been given
up for dead, was found alive in a hospital (photo). The boy,
Pento Panjaitan, who was traveling with his father Togar, was
injured when the plane crashed moments after taking off from
Polonia Airport on Monday. He became separated but was reunited
with his parents 13 hours after the accident.

Meanwhile, investigators were sifting through the charred
wreckage of the Mandala Airlines plane, trying to determine why
it crashed onto a crowded street in the city of Medan, creating a
path of destruction as it plowed into houses, cars and
pedestrians.

Setyo Rahardjo, head of the National Transportation Safety
Committee, said a preliminary report indicated there may have
been a problem with one of the engine's turbine blades.

"But we need to investigate it further," he said.