142 Bodies Found, 39 Of Which Were Army Personnel

By Azeman Ariffin JAKARTA, July 2 (Bernama) -- As of noon Thursday, 142 bodies have been recovered in the search-and-rescue operations for victims of the ill-fated Hercules aircrash in Medan. In a press conference which was telecast live locally, the Head of the Indonesian Police Medical and Health Centre, Brig-Jen Dr Arthur Tampi said the 142 bodies which were recovered at the disaster scene included 122 passengers and crew members. This meant that the remaining 20 bodies were those of civilians who were at the scene when the accident occurred at noon on Tuesday. Dr Arthur said that 63 bodies had been identified and would be claimed by their families at the Adam Malik Hospital in Medan. "The process of identifying the bodies is still being carried out and the family members are giving their cooperation," he said. The Indonesian National Military Forces (TNI) also confirmed that of the 122 victims on board the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU) plane which crashed, 39 were military personnel. The Head of Information and Library, Medan Air Base, Major Jhoni Tarigan in a media statement said that based on the latest data, the passengers on the airplane included 33 air force personnel and six from the army. Upon the request of family members, the remains of the TNI personnel had been flown to their respective villages. Another 83 passengers were family members of the TNI personnel and all their names were released in the media statement. According to previous reports, there were 122 victims on the flight, of whom 12 were crew and 110 civilians. The aircraft was on a logistics delivery assignment from the Soewondo air force base in Medan, heading towards the Riau Islands before crashing into a row of shophouses, spa and traditional medical centre in Jalan Jamin Ginting, Padang Bulan, Medan, about two minutes after take-off. Meanwhile, Antara News Agency bureau chief for North Sumatera, Simon Pramono, who was at the airport when contacted by Bernama, said the disaster scene was now being cleaned up and the remnants of the aircraft taken out. The search-and-rescue team is continuing its efforts to look for the victims using police dogs. Spokesman for the team, Lt-Kol Inf Maulana Ridwan was quoted as saying that as of Thursday morning, human remains were still being recovered and handed to the hospital authorities. He said the aircraft wreckage had been removed from the disaster site and was now being searched for remnants of firearms which were on board it. He said there were several types of firearms and ammunition on the aircraft, most of which had been recovered. "Only two S-1 pistols have not yet been recovered," he said. Maulana added that belongings of the victims such as wallets and handphones had been collected and would be handed over to the family members. -- BERNAMA