Kin fly in to claim bodies as haze lifts

More than 300 mourners arrived in Medan on a special flight from Jakarta this morning after thick smoke haze from forest fires stopped them from flying in for almost two days.

Twenty-two identified bodies in coffins were lined up in a small auditorium at Medan’s Polina airport. Family members prayed before them or placed keepsakes and photographs inside prior to claiming them.

The widow of a dead television cameraman sobbed quietly as she knelt beside his casket.

Ground coffee and mothballs were strewn on the floor to mask the smell of death that pervaded the tropical heat.

In an open area outside the nearby Adam Malik Hospital, dozens of relatives covered their faces with masks and cloths, cried and hugged each other, as they walked along rows of more than 100 unidentified bodies.

Before leaving Jakarta some relatives poured out their feelings.“I pleaded with her not to go. For some reason I didn’t feel comfortable,” Purwono told the Jakarta Post. He lost his sister Andananingsih.

Authorities said all 234 aboard the 15-year-old twin-engined aeroplane were killed. Most of the bodies — burned, torn and scattered by the force of the crash and explosion — were unrecognisable.

About 20 were foreigners. Four passengers were American, a US embassy spokesman said.

President Suharto ordered that unidentified bodies be buried tomorrow in a mass grave at cemetery near Medan.

Fifty-seven victims of 1979 Garuda commuter plane crash are already buried there. Other bodies would be given back to their families.

Meanwhile, rescue workers and investigators continued to sift through the wreckage looking for more victims and clues as to what brought down the Garuda airliner.

Most sought after are the flight data and cockpit voice recorders that could indicate whether the haze from hundreds of fires contributed to the disaster.

The haze improved slightly today, but the skies remained smoggy over Medan.At the Sumatran crash site, workers scrambled up trees and sifted through black ash to search for remains. Some body parts were dug up from the mud.After running out of plastic bags, they resorted to banana leaves, pieces of carpet, old clothing and bamboo vines to wrap body parts. Army trucks brought the remains to two hospital morgues in Medan.

It was unclear what role visibility played in the crash. An airport official said that Medan is equipped with a glide-slope indicator that guides incoming planes down to the runway at a proper angle, rather than an older type of beacon that simply helps a pilot determine where the airport is.