The Straits Times, March 7, 2007
Smoke pours from the wreckage of Garuda passenger jet at Yogyakarta airport. -- REUTERS
Smoke pours from the wreckage of Garuda passenger jet at Yogyakarta airport. -- REUTERSJAKARTA - At least 49 people were killed after a jet from Indonesia's state carrier Garuda crashed and burst into flames on landing at Yogyakarta airport, a government official said.
'We found 48 dead bodies at the spot. One person died at Sardjito hospital,' provincial secretary Bambang Susanto said, referring to the city’s main medical centre.
Survivors said many passengers had escaped the flames, but a witness reported seeing four charred bodies taken from the wreckage of the Garuda 737-400 jetliner, which crashed at around 7am (8am Singapore time) after a scheduled flight from Jakarta.
Garuda officials said that 76 of the 140 passengers and crew aboard had been taken from the plane, although they could not confirm how many of those were alive or dead.
'Body bags have been prepared. That means we think there could be casualties,' said Prasetyo Wignuwibowo, the head of the Indonesian Red Cross branch in Yogyakarta in central Java.
Mr Bambang Sugito, general manager of the airport, told the Elshinta radio station that 20 charred bodies had been pulled from the wreckage. He had no details on their nationalities.
'The manifest shows 133 passengers and we have seven active crew on board,' a Garuda spokeswoman said.
Australians on board
The Boeing 737-400 was carrying 10 Australians, including journalists and diplomatic staff.
The journalists had been covering a visit to Indonesia by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who was not on the plane but had been expected in Yogyakarta later in the day.
Plane 'overshot' runway
'It happened when it overshot beyond the runway and burst into flames,' Mr Susanto said through texted messages.
Mr Susanto said passengers are being treated at the air force hospital. Elshinta news radio said 16 injured people had been taken to hospital.
'The plane overshot the runway during landing and hit the airport fences,' Julianto, one of the survivors, told Metro TV.
'I was sitting at the back of the plane and people started to jump out of the plane after that. Some even jumped into the paddy field,' he said.
The plane's fuselage was burned to a twisted shell, and thick white smoke spewed from the wreckage.
Survivors
'I saw many bodies, dozens of bodies badly burnt near the exit,' Captain Yos Bintoro, an airport official, told Elshinta radio. 'I saw people dead in the cockpit. I cannot say if that’s the pilot or co-pilot.'
There were 76 survivors following the accident, Indonesia's Minister of Transport Hatta Rajasa told Indonesia's Metro TV station.
Dozens of injured have been taken to hospital, reports said.
'16 people were brought into the hospital, with injuries ranging from bad to minor,' Paulus, from the Panti Rini hospital, told ElShinta.
Around 50 injured people had been taken to a separate, airforce hospital near the airport, a Metro TV report said.
Indonesia's flight safety record has come under renewed scrutiny since an Adam Air Boeing 737-400 with 102 people on board crashed into the sea off the island of Sulawesi on New Year’s Day with no survivors. -- AFP, REUTERS, AP
'We found 48 dead bodies at the spot. One person died at Sardjito hospital,' provincial secretary Bambang Susanto said, referring to the city’s main medical centre.
Survivors said many passengers had escaped the flames, but a witness reported seeing four charred bodies taken from the wreckage of the Garuda 737-400 jetliner, which crashed at around 7am (8am Singapore time) after a scheduled flight from Jakarta.
Garuda officials said that 76 of the 140 passengers and crew aboard had been taken from the plane, although they could not confirm how many of those were alive or dead.
'Body bags have been prepared. That means we think there could be casualties,' said Prasetyo Wignuwibowo, the head of the Indonesian Red Cross branch in Yogyakarta in central Java.
Mr Bambang Sugito, general manager of the airport, told the Elshinta radio station that 20 charred bodies had been pulled from the wreckage. He had no details on their nationalities.
'The manifest shows 133 passengers and we have seven active crew on board,' a Garuda spokeswoman said.
Australians on board
The Boeing 737-400 was carrying 10 Australians, including journalists and diplomatic staff.
The journalists had been covering a visit to Indonesia by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who was not on the plane but had been expected in Yogyakarta later in the day.
Plane 'overshot' runway
'It happened when it overshot beyond the runway and burst into flames,' Mr Susanto said through texted messages.
Mr Susanto said passengers are being treated at the air force hospital. Elshinta news radio said 16 injured people had been taken to hospital.
'The plane overshot the runway during landing and hit the airport fences,' Julianto, one of the survivors, told Metro TV.
'I was sitting at the back of the plane and people started to jump out of the plane after that. Some even jumped into the paddy field,' he said.
The plane's fuselage was burned to a twisted shell, and thick white smoke spewed from the wreckage.
Survivors
'I saw many bodies, dozens of bodies badly burnt near the exit,' Captain Yos Bintoro, an airport official, told Elshinta radio. 'I saw people dead in the cockpit. I cannot say if that’s the pilot or co-pilot.'
There were 76 survivors following the accident, Indonesia's Minister of Transport Hatta Rajasa told Indonesia's Metro TV station.
Dozens of injured have been taken to hospital, reports said.
'16 people were brought into the hospital, with injuries ranging from bad to minor,' Paulus, from the Panti Rini hospital, told ElShinta.
Around 50 injured people had been taken to a separate, airforce hospital near the airport, a Metro TV report said.
Indonesia's flight safety record has come under renewed scrutiny since an Adam Air Boeing 737-400 with 102 people on board crashed into the sea off the island of Sulawesi on New Year’s Day with no survivors. -- AFP, REUTERS, AP
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