I post this in Non-WOT but that could change as details emerge.
At least 76 of the 140 people on the Garuda jet that crashed have been taken to hospital - but up to 54 are feared dead. It is still unclear how many of the Australians aboard the crashed Garuda jet were hurt. Many of them were Mr Downer's staff - diplomats from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade - with their Indonesian counterparts plus Australian police and journalists.
The Garuda passenger jet, GA-200, had left Jakarta at 6am local time for Yogjakarta, in the central province of Java. Survivors said there were up to three bangs then it burst into flames just before it landed at Yogjakarta. Some of the 140 people on board escaped the burning aircraft - a Boeing 737-200 - but more were trapped inside. Witnesses say only the tail fin was left undamaged.
There were at least five members of the Australian media on board the plane, which was transporting journalists and officials from the Australian Federal Police and Department of Foreign Affairs and Tourism ahead of a visit by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. Most of those on board were diplomatic staff from both Canberra and Jakarta, who were part of a trip flying in advance of Mr Downer's mission to Indonesia. There were also RAAF representatives. Mr Downer had been scheduled to visit the central Javanese province for a series of meetings - including one with the Muhammadiyah, the region's largest Muslim organisation, and with the Sultan of Yogjakarta. Treasurer Peter Costello said Mr Downer was not involved.
"The plane is burnt. The fire came suddenly from the front wheel,'' one witness, Hariman, said on ElShinta radio. One passenger who survived told local TV station RCTI TV that "before landing I felt the plane shake strongly''.
"We overshot the runway, then I heard the sound of an explosion and ran through an emergency exit,'' continued passenger Muhammad Dimyati. Another, local Islamic leader Dien Syamsudin, told how he jumped to safety. "Before the plane landed it was shaking. Suddenly there was smoke inside the fuselage, it hit the runway and then it landed in a rice field," he said. "It caught alight when it landed,'' he said giving no more details.
There seems to have been a problem before the plane landed - perhaps the pilot realized he was coming in long and tried to throttle up and go around again and blew the engines. Or perhaps a bomb or missile was the problem. This flight would certainly have been a prime target.| As matt Drudge would say, Developing... |
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