Transportation Minister Leads Trnasfer of Sukhoi Victims

Jakarta - Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan led a ceremony transferring the Sukhoi SuperJet 100 crash victims at Halim Perdanakusuma airport in Jakarta Wednesday. The Transportation Minister on behalf of the Indonesian government expressed the deepest condolences on the air accident which had taken the lives of 45 people. "We have lost the people that we loved including journalists," Mangindaan said. The Minister also conveyed his appreciation to the people including the Military, students, lovers of nature, and locals who have helped find and recover the victims. He said the evacuation of the crash victims on the slopes of Mt Salak took some time because the location was very difficult to reach and has an inclination of about 85 degrees, not to mention the adverse weather conditions. But with hard work, Minister Mangindaan said, the evacuation team managed to locate and bring the victims, and eventually identify them by the police. "We also wished to express our appreciation to the identification team for their ward work in obtaining data of the victims' finger prints, DNA, teeth, and other relevant factors," he said. A total of 45 people, comprising Russians, 35 Indonesians, a Frenchman and American, became victim of the ill-fated Sukhoi SuperJet 100 airliner. (*)