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Residents demand compensation after plane crash
Five days after a Hercules C-130 crashed in Medan, North Sumatra, a number of residents whose properties were damaged have begun to demand compensation
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ive days after a Hercules C-130 crashed in Medan, North Sumatra, a number of residents whose properties were damaged have begun to demand compensation.
Suwondo, the owner of the Beraspati Hotel, said he suffered a financial loss of some Rp 100 million (US$7,500) because of debris from the plane that crashed into the densely populated housing area along Jl. Jamin Ginting.
He said four rooms and a receptionist office of his hotel were damaged after being hit by a fragment from the plane's wing, which bounced about 40 meters from the crash site. A number of ceilings were also turned black because of the smoke from the burning crash site.
'If calculated, my financial loss reached some Rp 100 million, just for the physical damages, not including the loss from the hotel being unable to operate,' Suwondo said on Sunday.
He said officers from the Air Force had come to his hotel to collect data on his financial loss, but he received no clear information about when the compensation would be paid.
'In fact, I need the funds to mend the hotel so it can be operated again,' he said.
Wajib Sinuraya, the owner of a building that was used for a traditional steam bath business, said that he suffered an estimated loss of up to Rp 900 million because of the damage caused to the building after being hit by the Hercules.
Yet, he said, the compensation was not a priority for him at the moment, especially because not all of the bodies of his eight employees who was killed in the crash had been identified.
'I will think about it (compensation) later. What matters the most now is dealing with the bodies of my employees. I am burdened with it,' he said.
The commander of the Air Force Operation Command I, Young Marshal Agus Dwi Putranto, said that all damages to buildings caused by the crash of the Hercules would be handled by the Indonesian Military (TNI) headquarters.
'It's the authority of the headquarters. Let's just wait,' Agus told The Jakarta Post on Sunday, declining to mention details of the damages, saying that he had yet to receive the report.
Air Force Chief Marshal Agus Supriatna recently said in Medan that his office would pay compensation for all the damages to buildings and other properties, including cars, caused by the Hercules crash.
He said he would coordinate with the owners of the damaged buildings and cars over the compensation.
The Hercules C-130 belonging to the Air Force crashed on Jl. Jamin Ginting on Tuesday just three minutes after taking off from the Soewondo Air Base with 110 passengers and 12 crew members on board.
As many as 146 body bags have been evacuated from the crash site. Of them, 116 had been identified by the police's disaster victim identification (DVI) team. Those have been handed over to their respective families for burial.
There were 10 bodies remaining that had not yet been identified, together with 20 other bags containing parts of human bodies.(+++)
