Sunday, January 07, 2007

US team joins in search for plane

By Hamilah Norah,
WNS Indonesia Correspondent

SULAWESI - A team of US investigators has arrived on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi to take part in a search for a plane which disappeared without trace on Monday. The six-man team, including two representatives from the plane's manufacturer Boeing, will investigate causes of the accident. The search for the Boeing 737-400 was widened on Friday, as there has still been no sign of the wreckage. A total of 102 people were on board the plane, which was operated by Adam Air. Rescue teams are combing the west of the island for the plane, which vanished off radar screens on Monday.

The search is now focusing on the flight path and the weather in the area at the time, which may have caused it to veer off-course. The flight was last identified halfway through its flight from Surabaya, on central Java island, to Manado, on the north-east tip of Sulawesi. The search had previously concentrated on areas in western Sulawesi, where emergency signals from the plane were last received, but has now moved elsewhere. "It's impossible that it just disappeared," said Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla. "Even if it takes a month ... we have to keep searching."
Bad weather has hampered the search, as have false leads. Government officials have apologised for erroneously saying earlier this week that the wreckage had been found.

Meanwhile, off the island of Java, another search and rescue operation is continuing, to find victims of a ferry which sank in the area last weekend. So far, more than 230 people have been rescued alive, but twice that number are still believed to be missing. President Sushilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered that the search should carry on, citing cases from the 2004 Asian tsunami where people stayed alive on rafts for up to three weeks. An inquiry has begun into the causes of the disaster. One of the investigators involved said initial reports from surviving passengers and crew suggested the ship had not been overloaded, and that bad weather may have contributed to the sinking. But she said the committee had not yet reached any conclusions and investigators plan to interview the captain of the ship in the coming days.

posted by wnsworld @ 11:50 PM 0 comments

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Bangkok warned on more attacks

By Kelvin Goh,
WNS Thailand Bureau Chief

BANGKOK - Thailand's army-installed prime minister has warned the public to brace themselves for similar attacks to the New Year's Eve bombings in Bangkok. Surayud Chulanont made his warning in parliament, but did not give details of any specific threats. His government has hinted it believes politicians ousted in September's military coup may have been behind the bombings that killed three people. Suspicion has also fallen on disaffected soldiers and police. Defence Minister Boonrawd Somtas said it was "highly likely" the attacks were carried out by "men in uniform". "It's 90% sure that it is politically motivated, and only a handful of groups of people have the potential to mount these attacks," he said. Deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and another former prime minister, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, have angrily denied any involvement in the blasts. Mr Thaksin, in a handwritten letter sent from Beijing where he has been staying, suggested the attacks were similar to those mounted by insurgents in Thailand's south.

Bangkok remains on high alert following the eight blasts that hit the Thai capital, killing three and wounding at least 38 people. Security has been stepped up around transport hubs but the city is jittery - more than a thousand reports of suspicious packages and hoax warnings of bombs have been received by the authorities. Rumours also swirled around Bangkok on Thursday of a possible counter-coup, but spokesmen for the military and government denied this. "There have been transfers of troops but it is for the purpose of providing security in Bangkok," military spokesman Col Sansern Chaengkamnerd told the AP news agency.

Surayud Chulanont, who was appointed interim prime minister after the 19 September coup, has vowed to catch those behind the bomb attacks. But he told the National Legislative Council: "The public should be prepared to deal with this new kind of threat to our lives in the future." He also ruled out a link to the conflict in the south, telling parliament that though tests showed the bombs were similar to those used in the insurgency, "I can reassure you that they are not exactly the same." "That is why we have concluded that the bombings had nothing to do with the south, and rather that the ill-intentioned perpetrators are in Bangkok," he told parliament.

posted by wnsworld @ 11:10 PM 0 comments