Aviastar Victims to be Evacuated by Air to Makassar for Identification
Makassar, South Sulawesi. Rescue officials have reached the crash site of an Aviastar Twin Otter Turboprop plane which had been missing since Friday, but the rough terrain means all victims will be evacuated by air.
Air Marshall Bambang Soelistyo, head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), on Tuesday said the ill-fated plane crashed into the slopes of Mount Latimojong, Luwu District, South Sulawesi, adding that crash site is located deep in the forest, surrounded by steep ravines at an elevation of 3,478 meters above sea level.
“We will evacuate the victims by air to Makassar since it is really difficult to do the evacuation on land,” he said.
The National Police's Disaster Victims Identification (DVI) team is already standing by at Makassar's Sultan Hasanuddin airbase to identify remains at the Bhayangkara Police Hospital also in Makassar, the Basarnas chief continued.
Helicopters are being deployed to the scene to conduct the evacuation. Basarnas has also increased the number of personnel deployed from 125 to 259, consisting of search and rescue, military and police officers.
The plane lost contact last Friday at 2.36 p.m. local time, eleven minutes after taking off from the Andi Djemma Airport in the small town of Masamba, South Sulawesi. The plane was heading to Makassar.
All ten people on board, seven passengers and three crew members, are believed to have been killed in the incident.
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