Seluruh Jenazah Penumpang Helikopter MI 17 Ditemukan
Bodies of 12 Troops in Indonesia Chopper Crash Found
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
TIM PENCARIAN dari Tim Yonif 751 Raider menemukan belasan jenazah korban jatuhnya helikopter MI 17 milik TNI AD, yang dikabarkan hilang kontak pada Jumat 28 Juni 2019. Saat itu, helikopter MI 17 terbang dari Bandara Oksibil, Papua, menuju Bandara Sentani, Jayapura.
Penyebab tabrakan masih dalam penyelidikan.
Tim khusus dari pasukan elit militer TNI AD menemukan puing-puing Mi-17 buatan Rusia di lereng curam pada ketinggian sekitar 3.800 meter. Mereka dapat mencapai daerah terpencil dan sulit pada hari berikutnya, kata Wakapendam XVII/Cenderawasih, Letkol Dax Sianturi
Dia mengatakan sembilan jenazah telah diidentifikasi dengan seragam mereka.
Danrem 172/PVY, Kol Inf Binsar Sianipar, selaku koordinator evakuasi mengatakan cuaca buruk menghambat evakuasi jenazah menggunakan tali dan hal itu akan dilanjutkan Sabtu pagi.
Helikopter kehilangan kontak lima menit setelah lepas landas dari Oksibil, ibu kota Kabupaten Gunung Bintang pada 28 Juni. Helikopter itu sedang melakukan perjalanan ke ibukota provinsi, Jayapura.
Helikopter militer membawa pasukan dan pasokan ke pos perbatasan di Okbibab dekat Papua Nugini dan mengisi bahan bakar di Oksibil sebelum dilaporkan hilang oleh menara kontrol, kata pihak militer.
Pencarian telah dilanjutkan setelah penduduk desa Oksop mengatakan kepada pihak berwenang pekan lalu bahwa mereka telah melihat puing-puing di daerah yang dianggap sakral, sekitar 12 kilometer dari Oksibil.
Transportasi udara adalah satu-satunya cara praktis untuk mengakses banyak daerah di gunung dan provinsi yang dibalut hutan paling timur di Papua dan Papua Barat di mana helikopter militer baru-baru ini telah menjadi sasaran pemberontak separatis seperti dikutip Associated Press yang dilansir MailOnline.
SEARCH TEAMS in Indonesia on Friday found the bodies of a dozen soldiers killed when their helicopter crashed eight months ago in the country's easternmost province of Papua where separatist rebels are active, officials said.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Teams from the army's elite troops found the wreckage of the Russian-made Mi-17 on a steep slope at an elevation of about 3,800 meters (12,500 feet). They were able to reach the remote and difficult terrain the following day, Papua military spokesman Dax Sianturi said.
He said nine bodies had been identified by their uniforms.
Local military commander Binsar Sianipar, who led the mission, said bad weather hindered the retrieval of the bodies using ropes and it will resume early Saturday.
The helicopter lost contact five minutes after takeoff from Oksibil, the capital of the district of Bintang Mountain on June 28. It was traveling to the provincial capital, Jayapura.
The army helicopter was taking troops and supplies to a border post in Okbibab near Papua New Guinea and had refueled at Oksibil before it was reported missing by the control tower, the military said.
The search had resumed after residents of the village of Oksop told authorities last week that they had seen the wreckage in an area considered sacred, about 12 kilometers (7 miles) from Oksibil.
Flying is the only practical way of accessing many areas in the mountain and jungle-clad easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua where military helicopters recently have become a target of separatist rebels.
Papua, a former Dutch colony in the western part of New Guinea, was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a U.N.-sponsored ballot that was widely seen as a sham. A small, poorly armed separatist group has been battling for independence since then.