Jayapura, Jubi – The wreckage of Trigana IL 267 aircraft was found at coordinate 140 degrees or at around Oksob Waterfall located seven miles from Oksibil, the capital of Pegunungan Bintang Regency.
The area can be reached by using land transportation (motorcycle or car) about one to two hours from Oksibil.
“I arrived this morning but had no confirmation yet from the land team, but the air team has got a report that the wreckage scattered around the coordinates 04 degrees, 49 minutes 289 South Latitude and 140 degrees 29 minutes 953 East Latitude,” said Basarnas Chief Soelistyo in press conference in Sentani Airport on Monday (17/8/2015).
According to him, rescue team will track the location of crashed plane by air in order to track the three priorities sector that have been counted from yesterday. “The location and smoke of crashed plane is founded in the altitude of 8500 from Oksibil runway. So our operation will focus for evacuation surrounding this area,” he said.
Trigana Airplane was allegedly fallen at Okbape Sub-district of Pegunungan Bintang Regency that is about 13 miles from Oksibil Airport. It suspects the plane was hit the Tangok Mountain. Currently the joint Rescue Team along with Military and Police continue to search the crash location.
Weather Hampers Search Teams Looking for Trigana Plane
Rescue teams encountered some difficulties in evacuating the victims of crashed plan Trigana Air Service due to the geographical condition.
“The rescue team will find some trouble to do the physical activity at the altitude 8500 feet because of low air intensity and less dense oxygen,” he said.
According to Soelistyo, climate and weather would become another challenge. “In oksibil, it’s usually foggy from noon to afternoon. And in such altitude, the temperature is quite cold,” he said.
He hopes everything could be under control and today the operation would be prioritize the evacuation of victims. “If the victims were founded, they would be evacuated to two rescue stations at Trigana Station for victims’ family, and to Sentani Air Force Terminal station related to the operation of rescue and evacuation, and a station at Bhayangkara Hospital for DVI team to identify the victims,” he said. (Roy Ratumakin/rom)
