Bad weather hampers evacuation of Papua plane crash site

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Bad weather hampers evacuation of plane crash site



INDONESIA: -- The Jakarta Post reported that efforts to recover the 54 bodies of plane crash victims in Papua have been delayed because of thick cloud covering the location.

The Jayapura Airport commander told Antara news agency in Jayawijaya on Wednesday that thick cloud was still filling the sky of Oksibil and surrounding areas.

A Trigana Air plane carrying 54 people and Rp 6.5 billion (US$470,000) in cash crashed on a mountain slope near Oksibil when the ATR 42-300 twin-turboprop plane was en route from Jayapura to Oksibil, a remote settlement in the mountains south of Jayapura.

The plane crash is the latest in a series of incidents in Papua. On Aug. 12, a plane operated by Komala Air crashed on the runway of Ninia Airport in Papua, killing the plane’s technician, Eka Wijaya Sumanta, and injuring the pilot and five passengers.

Meanwhile, Pegunungan Bintang Police chief Yunus Wally said that members of the search and rescue (SAR) team and two helicopters were ready to carry out the evacuation as soon as the weather had improved.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/bad-weather-hampers-evacuation-of-plane-crash-site


-- Thai PBS 2015-08-20