INTERNATIONAL
Two weeks to identify bodies of helicopter crash victims
It will take the Indonesian authorities about two weeks to identify the bodies of 13 passengers of an Indonesian Army (TNI-AD) helicopter which crashed in Malinau, North Kalimantan near the Indonesian-Malaysian border on Saturday.
The process to identify the victims involved forensic examination and matching their DNA with that of their next-of-kin, said TNI-AD Flight Centre Commandant, Brig-Jen M. Afifuddin on Monday.
Meanwhile, TNI-AD Chief of Staff General Budiman said the helicopter which was ferrying 19 passengers crashed into a 10-metre deep ravine amidst strong wind.
The dead comprised eight civilians and five military personnel.
The MI-17 helicopter was reported to be ferrying construction workers for a military post construction in the Indonesian-Malaysian border at Malinau-Sarawak when the crash occurred about 11am, about two hours after take-off from the Juwata airport in Tarakan on Saturday.
The process to identify the victims involved forensic examination and matching their DNA with that of their next-of-kin, said TNI-AD Flight Centre Commandant, Brig-Jen M. Afifuddin on Monday.
Meanwhile, TNI-AD Chief of Staff General Budiman said the helicopter which was ferrying 19 passengers crashed into a 10-metre deep ravine amidst strong wind.
The dead comprised eight civilians and five military personnel.
The MI-17 helicopter was reported to be ferrying construction workers for a military post construction in the Indonesian-Malaysian border at Malinau-Sarawak when the crash occurred about 11am, about two hours after take-off from the Juwata airport in Tarakan on Saturday.