The "heartbreaking" deaths of nine Australian defense personnel in a helicopter crash will not stop the military's mercy mission to earthquake-hit areas of Indonesia, Prime Minister John Howard said yesterday.
Howard said he was devastated at the deaths, which occurred when a Sea King helicopter from the navy supply ship HMAS Kanimbla crashed Saturday as it came down to land at Aman Draya village on the island of Nias off the Sumatran coast.
He said the accident would not disrupt Australian aid efforts because the need for help in Indonesia remained acute.
PHOTO: AP
"The mission of mercy, the mission of help in Indonesia will go on," Howard told reporters.
"Its important that Australia continue to carry out its humanitarian role in Indonesia. I know that is what the men and women on the Kanimbla would want to occur."
Howard said the tragedy was heightened by the fact that the Kanimbla had been heading home after helping aid efforts in Sumatra's tsunami-hit Aceh when it was ordered to steam back to Indonesia after last week's earthquake.
"These young Australians were on a mission of mercy and compassion, they were helping the poor people of the island of Nias in the wake of the latest earthquake there," Howard said. "This is really quite heartbreaking."
The helicopter was carrying 11 military personnel, including the air crew and a navy medical team, when it crashed.
The dead included seven men and two women.
Australian Defence Force chief Peter Cosgrove said two men survived and were being treated for fractures aboard the Kanimbla.
Cosgrove said an investigation had been launched into the crash, which occurred in clear weather on a football pitch that appeared free of any potentially hazardous obstacles.
"My early indications are that the weather shouldn't have been a factor," he told reporters.
The helicopter had been preparing to ferry injured Nias islanders onto the Kanimbla for hospital treatment on the ship.
A second Sea King from the Kanimbla flew over the crash site and saw the chopper in flames, Cosgrove said.
Howard said Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is scheduled to arrive in Australia on an official visit late Sunday, phoned him Sunday morning to express his condolences.
Kanimbla Captain George McGuire said his grief-stricken crew were determined to continue their mission.
"I think our friends who died ... it would be disrespectful to them if we don't complete our mission," McGuire told the crew. "A couple of our friends are missing. We owe it to their memory to continue with our job."
Howard said the bodies of the dead would be flown to Australia this week, tomorrow at the earliest.
The crash was the deadliest involving the Australian military since 18 servicemen died when two Black Hawk helicopters collided during a training exercise in Queensland state in June 1996.
Australia, a major aid provider to Indonesia following the Dec. 26 quake and tsunami, was among the first countries to send help after the latest quake disaster.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was