Australia scrambles help after Indon jet crash

The Straits Times, March 7, 2007


SYDNEY - Australia on Wednesday dispatched planes and medical teams to Indonesia to treat victims of an airliner inferno that killed 23 people and left five Australians feared dead.

After visiting the scene of the crash, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer confirmed that another five Australian passengers on the ill-fated jet were injured in the crash, at least two of them seriously.

'We're still sticking with the figure of five (missing) and there are five who are accounted for, four of whom are in hospital in various degrees of difficulty,' Mr Downer told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

'And then there is one who we understand, we haven't caught up with him yet, but we understand he just walked away from the plane and he's in a hotel in Yogyakarta,' he added.

Some 10 Australian journalists, diplomats and police officials were on board the flight that crashed at Yogyakarta early on Wednesday as they were accompanying Mr Downer and Attorney General Philip Ruddock on a three-day visit to Indonesia.

Neither minister was on the doomed plane.

The Australian Federal Police said two of its agents were missing, while officials said a diplomat from Australia's Jakarta embassy, a journalist and a government trade official were also unaccounted for.

Prime Minister John Howard said there was no indication the crash was caused by terrorism but warned Australians to brace for bad news about the fate of at least some of the missing.

'I have not received any advice suggesting it was anything other than a tragic accident,' he said.

'I don't know the cause yet, I can only say I have not received any advice suggesting that there was sabotage or a terrorist attack.'

Mr Howard said he had authorised all necessary personnel, resources and aircraft to be made available to assist in the medical evacuation of survivors who needed treatment in Australia.

A Royal Australian Air Force C130 carrying defence force medics and equipped with an in-flight intensive care unit scrambled from the northern Australian city of Darwin to Yogyakarta to help the survivors, officials said.

Three of five injured Australians were expected to be flown to a Darwin hospital on a private CareFlight late Wednesday, with more patients to follow.

The Royal Darwin Hospital said its trauma centre, which has previously treated survivors from the Bali bombings, had the capacity to treat up to 70 people.

'We don't know how many will be sent here but we have to be prepared,' a hospital spokesman said. 'It could be anything from a handful to 70 people.'

Two aircraft carrying medics and a government response team, including world renowned burns specialist Doctor Fiona Woods, were expected to fly to Yogyakarta on Thursday morning, officials said, after being delayed.

The missing Australians include diplomat Liz O'Neill and Australian Financial Review journalist Morgan Mellish, according to the Australian Associated Press.

Federal police officers Brice Steele and Mark Scott, both based in Jakarta, were also feared dead.

Sydney Morning Herald reporter Cynthia Banham and Hong Kong-based Australian journalist Roger Tallboys, 63, were in serious condition in hospital in Yogyakarta after suffering severe burns, doctors said.

Two Australian air force officers were treated at a separate hospital, one for a broken shoulder, one for minor injuries, the news agency said.

One of the air force men told Mr Downer the plane had been going too fast when it landed.

'The two who are in best health told me that the plane came hurtling into the runway at a much greater speed than an aeroplane would normally land at,' Mr Downer told ABC television.

The plane careened off the end of the runway, hit a bank, a culvert before stopping in a paddy field.

'When it hit the bank and the culvert it exploded,' Mr Downer said. -- AFP