Umat Syiah rayakan Arbain

Ratusan ribu peziarah Syiah berkumpul di Karbala, Irak untuk memperingati salah satu hari raya paling suci, Arbain.

Hari raya selama dua hari itu mengakhiri 40 hari masa berkabung atas kematian Imam Hussein, cucu Nabi Muhammad pada tahun 680.

Selama seminggu, warga Syiah dari seluruh penjuru Irak berkumpul di Karbala, sekitar 80 km di selatan Baghdad.

Beberapa saat lalu, puluhan peziarah Syiah tewas dalam serangan bom dan senjata, dan penjagaan keamanan di Karbala sangat ketat.

Para peziarah memulai upacara suci pada hari Jumat di makam Imam Hussein sebelum acara mencapai puncaknya pada hari Sabtu. [BBCIndonesia.com]

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Sabtu, Mac 10, 2007 | 0 ulasan

28 maut nahas pesawat Garuda

Daripada Sopha Sulaiman

Para penyelamat memeriksa bangkai pesawat Garuda yang meletup selepas mendarat di Lapangan Terbang Adi Sucipto, Yogyakarta, semalam. – Reuters.

JAKARTA 7 Mac – Sebuah pesawat Boeing 737-400 syarikat penerbangan Garuda Indonesia meletup dan terbakar setelah terbabas ketika mendarat di Lapangan Terbang Adi Sucipto, Yogyakarta pagi ini, mengorbankan 28 orang penumpang.

Pesawat komersial itu membawa 140 penumpang termasuk tujuh anak kapal dari Lapangan Terbang Sukarno-Hatta Jakarta, termasuk Ketua Umum Muhammadiyah, Din Syamsuddin, diplomat dan wartawan Australia.

Din Syamsuddin bersama 111 penumpang lain bagaimanapun selamat dan mereka yang cedera dirawat di beberapa buah hospital di Yogyakarta.

Kedutaan Besar Malaysia di Jakarta, mengesahkan tiada rakyat Malaysia terlibat dalam nahas pesawat itu.

Pegawai dan wartawan Australia dalam pesawat itu dalam perjalanan ke Yogyakarta sempena lawatan Menteri Luar Australia, Alexander Downer ke Universiti Muhammadiyah hari ini.

Downer selepas menghadiri Mesyuarat Peringkat Menteri Sub-Rantau Mengenai Usaha Memerangi Keganasan di Jakarta menyifatkan nahas itu kemalangan biasa dan bukan angkara pengganas.

Sementara itu Din Syamsuddin yang memimpin organisasi Islam kedua terbesar di Indonesia menceritakan kepada stesen televisyen, penumpang berteriak dan bertakbir apabila ruang kabin pesawat berasap dan lampu padam setelah kapal terbang itu terbabas.

“Sebahagian penumpang terjun ke sawah melalui pintu depan, tengah dan belakang yang sudah terbuka, kata Din yang cedera ringan dalam kemalangan berkenaan.

Stesen MetroTV menyiarkan gambar pesawat Garuda itu hangus terbabas dalam sawah selepas melanggar pagar di hujung landasan.

Bangkai pesawat itu masih terbakar dengan kepulan asap tebal sementara anggota penyelamat dan tentera udara cuba memadamkan api.

Pasukan penyelamat mengeluarkan penumpang yang terkorban dari bangkai pesawat setelah api berjaya dipadamkan.

Pakar forensik juga dihantar ke lokasi dan hospital untuk mengenal pasti penumpang yang rentung.

Penumpang lain yang menaiki pesawat tersebut ialah warganegara Jepun, Itali dan Brunei.

Nahas pesawat itu berlaku pada pukul 7.14 pagi waktu tempatan (8.14 pagi waktu Malaysia) adalah yang kedua tahun ini selepas pesawat Adam Air hilang di Selat Makassar pada 1 Januari lalu.

Sehingga pukul 8 malam ini, belum ada angka rasmi mengenai jumlah kematian dalam nahas berkenaan.

Menurut laporan Antara dan stesen MetroTV, empat warganegara Australia dirawat di Rumah Sakit Bethesda sementara dua warga Brunei dirawat di Yogyakarta International Hospital.

Lima warga Australia, lima rakyat Jepun dan seorang rakyat Itali belum diketahui nasib mereka.

Seorang penumpang, Mahfud memberitahu, sebaik mendarat, badan pesawat terumbang-ambing dan kemudian muncul asap dalam kabin.

“Ramai penumpang melompat turun selepas pesawat itu terbakar diikuti dengan ledakan,” katanya.

– Utusan

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Khamis, Mac 08, 2007 | 0 ulasan

Survivors flee flames after fatal Indonesian plane crash

By Sebastien Berger, South East Asia Correspondent, and Tim Hall Last Updated: 2:09pm GMT 07/03/2007 Video: Java plane crash Timeline: A string disasters In pictures: Second air disaster this year Analysis: Indonesia's terrible air safety record 71 are killed as earthquakes hit Sumatra Twenty-three people were killed when an Indonesian passenger plane crashed on landing in the city of Yogyakarta, but around 100 escaped alive from the burning wreckage. The plane was carrying many Australian journalists and diplomats Passengers said the Garuda Boeing 737 was shaking violently as it approached the runway, and some reports said the nosewheel tyre exploded, sending the aircraft skidding out of control and off the tarmac, where it burst into flames and explosions shook its twisted frame. "It ran about 300 metres off the runway," said First Air Marshal Benyamin Dandel, the air force commander at the airport, adding that parts of the aircraft, including the wheels and the wings, were left behind. The passengers included Din Syamsuddin, the head of Muhammadiyah, the country's second-largest Muslim organisation. "Some passengers wanted to get their hand luggage. I cried to them, 'Get out, get out'," he said. “I saw a foreigner. His clothes were on fire. The plane was full of smoke. I just jumped from two metres high and landed in a rice field." Moments later, as the fire apparently reached a fuel tank, flames billowed into the sky. "Thank God I survived," he added. The fire took around two hours to bring under control, and Captain Yos Bintoro, an airport official, said: “I saw many bodies, dozens of bodies badly burnt near the exit. I saw people dead in the cockpit." Reports conflicted about the number of casualties. Garuda, the national airline, said 22 passengers and one crew member had died, but a government official earlier put the toll at 49. There were 133 people on board. At least 10 Australians were on board, including diplomats and journalists going to Java's cultural centre for an event with the Australian foreign minister Andrew Downer, who was not on the aircraft. Five were injured, and five remained unaccounted for. Mr Downer said that two survivors, both in the Australian air force, had told him the aircraft landed too fast. He said: "... the two who are in the best health told me that the plane came hurtling in to the runway at a much greater speed than an aeroplane would normally land at. "They themselves thought the plane would never stop in the length of the runway, which it duly didn't. They just ploughed across the end of the runway, across a road, hit a bank and a culvert and went into a paddy field. When it hit the bank and the culvert, it exploded." John Howard, the Australian prime minister, said there was no indication of terrorism. “It is a terrible tragedy," he said. “Many lives have been lost, and our love and sympathy and condolences go to those who are suffering distress and grief." The crash is the latest in a series in Indonesia, where several budget airlines compete ferociously for business. A spokesman for the British embassy said no Britons were believed to have been on board. Indonesia has been hit by a string of transport disasters in recent months. In late December, a passenger ferry sank in a storm in the Java Sea, killing more than 400 people. Days later in January a passenger plane operated by the budget airline Adam Air crashed into the ocean, killing all 102 people on board. In February another ship sank near the capital’s port, leaving at least 50 dead. The government responded by saying it would ban local commercial airlines from operating planes more than 10 years old, though most experts say maintenance and the number of take-offs and landings are the most important factors in preventing accidents. Earlier this week dozens of people were killed and hundreds of buildings flattened by an earthquake on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. [telegraph.co.uk]

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Rabu, Mac 07, 2007 | 0 ulasan

Mandala plane crashes in Medan kampung

5 September 2005 - An Indonesian passenger plane with over 100 people on board crashed into a residential area shortly after taking off from the northern city of Medan, officials said. The Mandala Airlines jet bound for Jakarta crashed minutes after take-off from Polonia airport in Medan on the island of Sumatra. News about the plane crash · Crashed Indonesia jet may have had fuel problem · Young boy survives Mandala crash · Indonesia to bury plane crash victims · Airplane crash kills 141 in Indonesia · All Mandala crash passengers feared dead · Governor killed in Mandala crash · Indonesian jet with over 100 on board crashes into residential area Remains of the Mandala Airlines plane near the houses of the housing complex. Other recent big crashes in Indonesia April 2, 2005: A Sea King helicopter on an aid mission goes down on Indonesia's quake-hit Nias island in Australia's worst post-Vietnam War operational loss of military personnel, killing nine. December 23, 2004: An Indonesian military helicopter crashes in Central Java province, killing all 14 air force personnel on board. Bad weather was cited as the cause. November 30, 2004: A Lion Air MD-82 plane carrying 146 passengers and seven crew skids off a rain-slick runway at Solo in central Java, killing 31 people and injuring dozens more. October 12, 2004: An Indonesian military helicopter crashes in the northern separatist province of Aceh on Sumatra, killing all eight soldiers on board, with bad weather mentioned as a possible cause. December 19, 1997: All 104 people on board a Singapore SilkAir Boeing 737-300 are killed when it crashes near the Sumatran city of Palembang. September 26, 1997: A Garuda Airbus A-300B4 crashes in a mountainous area of northern Sumatra near Medan. All 222 passengers and 12 crew are killed in Indonesia's worst-ever air disaster.

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Rabu, Mac 07, 2007 | 0 ulasan

Pesawat B 737-400 Lion Juga Alami Insiden

Rabu, 07 Maret 2007

Jakarta-RoL-- Pesawat Lion Air dengan nomor penerbangan JT 793 jurusan Gorontalo-Jakarta jenis B 737-400 juga mengalami insiden kecil sehingga harus melakuan pendaratan di Bandara Juanda, sekitar pukul 13.30 WIB.

"Indikator bahan bakar di pesawat menyala karena diduga tekanannya rendah dan ini memerlukan pengecekan," kata Manajer Humas Lion Air, Hasyim Arsal Alhabsi saat dihubungi di Jakarta, Rabu malam.

Menurut Hasyim, sang pilot pesawat dengan nomor register PK-LIT dan berpenumpang 157 orang tersebut, Capt Ary Susanto kemudian memutuskan untuk melakukan pengecekan di Bandara Juanda.

"Posisi pesawat memang dekat di Bandara Juanda dan tindakan pilot tersebut sudah sesuai dengan prosedur, demi keselamatan penerbangan, ketimbang perjalanan diteruskan dan bermasalah," katanya.

Selain itu, tegasnya, meski indikator bahan bakar menunjukkan tanda harus dilakukan pengecekan, secara umum, kondisi pesawat tidak mengalami anomali lain atau ciri-ciri lain yang menandakan pesawat "bermasalah".

Akhirnya, kata Hasyim, pesawat mendarat mulus di Juanda sekitar pukul 13.30 WIB dan setelah dilakukan pengecekan oleh teknisi Lion Air di Surabaya, pesawat pada pukul 17.00 WIB melanjutkan perjalanan ke Bandara Soekarno-Hatta, Jakarta.

Pesawat, sesuai jadwal seharusnya mendarat di Bandara Soekarno Hatta sekitar pukul 14.15 WIB. antara
(republika)

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Rabu, Mac 07, 2007 | 0 ulasan

Indonesian jetliner bursts into flames, at least 23 dead

Yogyakarta, Mar 07: A packed Indonesian jetliner crash-landed and erupted in flames on Wednesday, killing 23 people trapped inside the burning wreckage. More than 115 others escaped through emergency exits as black smoke billowed behind them, authorities and witnesses said. Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa told reporters in Yogyakarta that 23 of the 140 passengers and crew on board died. Garuda said the injured passengers were being treated at three hospitals. Survivors, many of them bloodied and dazed, said the Boeing 737-400 shook violently as it approached Yogyakarta Airport and then shot off the runway, plowing through a fence and then coming to a halt in a rice field. "Suddenly there was smoke inside the fuselage, it hit the runway and then it landed in a rice field," local Islamic leader Dien Syamsudin told el-Shinta radio station. "I saw a foreigner. His clothes were on fire and I jumped from the emergency exit. Thank God I survived." The government ordered an investigation into the crash, the third involving a commercial jetliner in the country in as many months. The nationalities of the dead and injured were not released. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered a thorough investigation into the crash, appointing the security minister to look into possible "nontechnical" causes, said spokesman Andi Mallarangeng, in an apparent reference to sabotage. Bureau Report [zeenews.com]

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Rabu, Mac 07, 2007 | 0 ulasan

Moments before Indonesian crash, jet pilot blinded by haze

September 26, 1997
Web posted at: 10:24 p.m. EDT (0224 GMT)

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Moments before a Garuda Indonesian jet slammed into the ground Friday, killing at least 200 people, its pilot asked for help landing because of poor visibility, official media reported Saturday.

The pilot of the Airbus jet radioed Medan air traffic controllers for guidance minutes before the crash, state-owned Antara News Agency reported. The pilot had complained of low visibility because of a smoky haze, the report said.

The plane crashed Friday about 20 miles (30 kilometers) short of Medan airport in North Sumatra.

The haze has been blamed on fires raging in the region's rain forests.

All 238 aboard the A-300 Airbus were feared dead. The plane went down early Friday afternoon about 15 minutes before it was to land at Medan, a major commodities and trading center.

Shortly after dawn Saturday, rescue crews sifted through mountainside debris , but the search for survivors was increasingly grim. "We are afraid there are no survivors," one official said.

An airport official in Medan said a thick haze had covered the airport for the last two days.

There was no official word on the cause of the crash, but one official said, "It's probably the haze, but we're not sure."

Some of the worst fires have been smoldering across Sumatra for months, and several airports in other cities on the island, and elsewhere in the country, were closed Friday because of poor visibility.

In parts of Sumatra Thursday, visibility was down to less than 100 yards (meters).

Airport sources said Flight GA-152 lost contact with the Medan control tower at about 1:30 p.m. (0530 GMT). Rescue officials said the plane went down near the village of Buah Nabar in the Sibolangit district south of Medan.

A Garuda official said 222 passengers, including one child, and 16 crew members were on the flight. Most of those on board were believed to be Indonesians, but the plane was also carrying American, Dutch and Japanese passengers.

Sumatra is an Indonesian island divided into two almost equal parts by the equator. The southeastern Asian country of Indonesia is an archipelago of about 17,500 islands.

Bush fires across Sumatra island and Kalimantan have sent a choking, health-threatening haze across neighboring Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei. The smoke has also drifted as far as the southern Philippines and parts of Thailand, including the resort area of Phuket.

Related stories:

• More than 100 bodies found at Indonesian crash site - September 26, 1997
• At least 236 feared dead in Indonesian plane crash - September 26, 1997

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• Garuda Indonesia Airlines
• Airbus Industrie - A300

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Rabu, Mac 07, 2007 | 0 ulasan

Garuda Plane Crash in Indonesia Kills at Least 21 (Update7)

By Berni Moestafa and Claire Leow

March 7 (Bloomberg) -- A PT Garuda Indonesia plane crashed in central Java, killing at least 21 people and increasing concerns about safety of travel in Indonesia, where three planes have crashed this year.

The 15-year-old Boeing Co. 737-400 plane was carrying 140 people. Rescuers evacuated 97 people, Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi said at a briefing in Jakarta today.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered an investigation into the country's transportation safety standards after two earlier crashes. In January, a 17 year-old PT Adam Skyconnection Airlines Boeing Co. 737-300 plane, carrying 102 people, plunged into the ocean off the coast of Indonesia's Sulawesi island and another plane broke up on landing in February.

``It's a serious problem when you have two fatal crashes in a short period of time,'' said Jim Eckes, managing director of Hong Kong-based Indoswiss Aviation, which advises airlines. ``There's a lot of indication that airlines in Indonesia are not being maintained properly or that pilot training isn't up to par.''

In today's crash, the plane's fuselage melted as it was consumed by flames about 100 meters off the runway, according to television reports. Sugeng Dwi Riyanto, a health ministry official, who had earlier reported there were 58 fatalities, said officials had double counted. Riyanto said he had seen 22 bodies.

Flight GA 200 originated in Jakarta and crashed as it landed in Yogyakarta at about 7 a.m. local time. There were 133 passengers and seven crew members aboard, according to Pujobroto, a Garuda spokesman, who uses one name.

Boeing Investigator

``A Boeing air safety investigator is in Indonesia and will assist with the investigation,'' said Boeing spokesman Ken Mercer from Seattle. ``Boeing expresses profound concern for the safety of the passengers and crew.''

Local hospitals were treating at least 62 people for injuries. The injured include at least 26 Indonesians, one Japanese and one Australian, Sif Wuryanto, a spokesman at a local hospital said by phone.

Four of nine Australians on the plane are missing, Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in a briefing in Jakarta today. The rest are being treated in local hospitals, he said. Downer, who is in Indonesia to attend a conference on terrorism, will go to Yogyakarta later today.

Old Planes

About 80 percent to 90 percent of planes in Indonesia are over 10 years old, according to PT Lion Mentari Airlines spokesman Hasyim Arsal Alhabsyi.

Air transport is growing rapidly in Indonesia, driven by low fares. The number of passengers on domestic flights probably rose to about 32 million in 2006 from 29 million in 2005, Indonesian transport minister Hatta Rajasa said on Oct. 18. This compares with 23 million in 2004 and 6 million in 1999, Rajasa said.

``The accident may spark fear of travel given that Garuda has been the safety benchmark for the Indonesian airline industry,'' said Bambang Susantono, chairman of the Indonesian Transport Society, an independent group of transportation experts. ``We need a thorough evaluation of what happened.''

In 2004, there were 23 scheduled airlines operating and 37 licenses had been issued in Indonesia, according to the World Bank. Indonesia's sudden air transport development became possible by the collapse of the Suharto regime in 1998. Before 1999, there were five scheduled carriers and a few charter operators, the World Bank said.

Indonesia last month grounded seven of Adam Skyconnection Airlines's Boeing 737-300 planes, a third of its fleet, after the fuselage of one of its jets broke upon landing in Surabaya, East Java on Feb. 21.

On Feb. 28, Transport Minister Rajasa said Indonesia may ban airlines from buying older planes. The government may cut the maximum age used planes can be sold at to 10 years from the current 20, he said.

On Sept. 5, 2005, a PT Mandala Airlines jetliner crashed into a residential district North Sumatra province, killing 149 people.

To contact the reporter on this story: Berni Moestafa in Jakarta at bmoestafa@bloomberg.net ; Claire Leow in Jakarta at cleow@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: March 7, 2007 04:14 EST

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Rabu, Mac 07, 2007 | 0 ulasan

Gempa di Sumatra Barat

Selasa, 06 Maret 2007 Bantuan untuk Korban Gempa Sumbar segera Dikerahkan Jakarta-RoL -- Pemerintah segera mengerahkan bantuan untuk membantu warga yang menjadi korban gempa tektonik berkekuatan 5,8 Skala Richter di sejumlah kabupaten/kota di Sumatera Barat (Sumbar). Direktur Jendral Bantuan dan Jaminan Sosial Departemen Sosial Chazali Situmorang di Jakarta, Selasa (6/3), mengatakan pihaknya telah berkoordinasi dengan dinas sosial setempat dan meminta mereka mengerahkan stok logistik yang disiapkan di provinsi dan kabupaten/kota di wilayah tersebut. "Kami sudah minta mereka mengirimkan bantuan yang diperlukan seperti beras, sarung, selimut, dan tenda pengungsian yang ada di gudang-gudang dinas sosial setempat," paparnya. Jika stok logistik di gudang-gudang dinas sosial setempat tidak cukup, ia melanjutkan, pemerintah pusat akan mengirimkan bantuan tambahan yang diperlukan. "Besok saya juga akan menuju ke lokasi untuk mendampingi menteri sosial mengecek langsung kondisi di lapangan. Kalau ada bantuan lain yang diperlukan akan dikirim langsung dari pusat," ujarnya. Sementara Departemen Kesehatan, menurut Kepala Pusat Komunikasi Publik Departemen Kesehatan Lily S Sulistyowati, hari ini mengirimkan bantuan tenda, veltbed, perangkat kedaruratan (emergency kit) serta tiga ton Makanan Pendamping ASI (MP-ASI) bubur dan tiga ton MP-ASI biskuit. "Untuk saat ini kami juga mengirimkan dua orang tenaga kesehatan dari pusat," katanya. Ia menambahkan selanjutnya pihaknya akan berkoordinasi dengan Pusat Penanggulangan Krisis Kesehatan Regional setempat (Medan, Sumatera Utara-red) untuk mengetahui perkembangan penanganan bencana di wilayah tersebut. "Kita akan terus berkoordinasi dengan pusat krisis regional untuk mengetahui perkembangannya dan akan melakukan tindakan lanjutan lain bila memang diperlukan," kata Lily. Pemerintah daerah sendiri, menurut Sekretaris Daerah Prov. Sumbar, Yohanes Dahlan, telah mendirikan posko gempa dan tenda-tenda pengungsian di enam kabupaten/kota dengan dampak gempa terparah. Laporan dari posko bencana gempa di Aula Kantor Gubernur Sumbar menyebutkan sebanyak 69 korban meninggal dunia serta ratusan lainnya luka berat dan ringan akibat tertimpa material bangunan rumah yang rubuh diguncang gempa tektonik yang berpusat pada 0'47 lintang Selatan, 149 Bujur Timur pada KM 11 Barat Daya Kota Batusangkar, Sumbar. Korban meninggal terdapat di Kabupaten Solok sebanyak 19 orang, Kota Padang Panjang (10 orang), Kota Solok (14 orang), Kabupaten Tanah Datar (16 orang), Bukitinggi (8 orang), Payakumbuh (1 orang) dan Pariaman (1 orang). Sedangkan korban luka berat dan ringan hingga kini mencapai ratusan dan jumlahnya diperkirakan masih terus bertambah karena upaya evakuasi hingga kini masih terus dilakukan. antara is ()

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Selasa, Mac 06, 2007 | 0 ulasan

Nadiah kongsi rahsia kejayaan melalui dua buku

Oleh SUNARTI KIBAT


BATU PAHAT 5 Mac – Pelajar pintar yang berjaya mendapat 19 1A dalam peperiksaan Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2006, Nadiah Amirah Jamil, 18, akan menceritakan rahsia kejayaannya melalui dua buku karyanya yang bakal diterbitkan tidak lama lagi.

Buku pertama, Diari Nadiah terbitan Raihan Creative Sdn. Bhd. dijangka mula dipasarkan pertengahan bulan ini dan dijual dengan harga RM20.

Buku kedua pula yang bertajuk Meniti Kecemerlangan kini masih dalam proses pembikinan.

Bapa Nadiah, Jamil Omar, 55, berkata, kedua-dua buku tulisan anaknya itu memaparkan kesungguhan serta pahit manis kehidupan yang perlu ditempuhinya sebelum sampai ke tahap sekarang.

‘‘Nadiah menceritakan kesungguhan dia untuk menuntut ilmu sejak umurnya tiga tahun dan bagaimana dia sanggup bertukar sekolah dari Sekolah Menengah Sains Kluang, Johor ke sebuah sekolah biasa di luar bandar semata-mata untuk membolehkannya mengambil 19 mata pelajaran dalam SPM,’’ katanya kepada Utusan Malaysia di sini hari ini.

Beliau berkata, buku itu turut menceritakan bagaimana Nadiah meminta supaya dimasukkan ke tadika ketika umurnya tiga tahun dan dia sentiasa berusaha mendapat tempat pertama dalam setiap peperiksaan.

Jamil berkata, keinginan Nadiah untuk mengambil 19 mata pelajaran nyata tidak sia-sia sekali gus membuktikan bahawa pelajar sekolah luar bandar juga mampu mendapat keputusan cemerlang dalam peperiksaan.

Sementara itu, rumah Nadiah kini menjadi tumpuan terutama dari kalangan wartawan yang ingin mendengar cerita kejayaannya. [UM]

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Selasa, Mac 06, 2007 | 0 ulasan