Posted on 09/04/2005 11:26:08 PM PDT by FairOpinion
MEDAN, Indonesia, Sept 5 (Reuters) - At least 100 people are feared dead after a Boeing 737-200 crashed in the centre of Indonesia's third biggest city on Monday just after takeoff, breaking into pieces and setting fire to homes and cars.
The plane, operated by local carrier Mandala Airlines, had 112 passengers and five crew on board, said Asril Tanjung, the airline's director. The cause of the crash in Medan city was being investigated, but foul play was highly unlikely, he said.
The plane slammed into the heart of Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province, sparking widespread panic, witnesses said. Hospital officials and witnesses said some of the dead were residents on the ground.
Edi Sofyan, a spokesman for the North Sumatra government, said there were no reports yet of any survivors. He added that the governor of the province was on board the flight.
"I expect the death toll to be around 100," said Sofyan.
Fierce flames licked at the wreckage as it lay on one of Medan's main roads. Cars and homes were also on fire and plumes of thick black smoke rose into the air as fire crews tried to extinguish the blazes.
"I arrived around 10 minutes after the accident. Burning bodies were everywhere," one local reporter said from the scene.
"Around 10 houses were burned, along with five to six minibuses. The plane was torn into pieces, we could only see the tail."
Survivors on the ground ran about frantically screaming the names of their relatives, added the reporter.
Roni, an emergency room nurse at Medan's Adam Malik hospital, said it was chaos as victims were brought in. Other hospital officials said most victims were burnt beyond recognition.
"Ambulances keep going back and forth bringing the victims, who are both passengers and residents. Some are still alive, some are dead," Roni told Reuters.
Medan, 1,425 km (885 miles) northwest of Jakarta, is Indonesia's third biggest city and is also the main gateway for aid into tsunami-hit Aceh province.
Mandala's Tanjung said the plane had been made in 1981 and was fit for eight more years of flying.
"Temporarily, we are saying the cause is from take-off failure but we don't know yet whether it was from engine trouble, human error or weather," Tanjung told Reuters.
The plane came down 500 metres (1,640 feet) from the runway in Medan, Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa told El Shinta radio station. It was en route to Jakarta.
Mandala Airlines is one of Indonesia's oldest private carriers, operating a number of Boeing 737s. It competes in a crowded and competitive market since the establishment of numerous budget airlines in the past five years.
Indonesia's worst air crash occurred in Sept. 1997, when a Garuda Airbus A-300B4 crashed in a mountainous area near Medan, killing all 222 passengers and 12 crew on board.
(Reporting by Achmad Sukarsono, Telly Nathalia, Tomi Soetjipto, Ade Rina and Harry Suhartono)
I wonder if Zarcoward will call this Allah's Divine Punishment on unbelievers.
Oh wait, these were believers. hmm
Seems to be oodles of air disasters lately.
I was thinking the same thing. This is the 6th crash I've read about in the last 2 months or so.
Medan is actually predominantly Christian.
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