Indonesian Search Teams Recover Pieces of Missing Plane

Indonesian search teams are starting to recover pieces of a passenger jet that disappeared on New Year's Day with more than 100 people on board.

The head of search and rescue operations, Eddy Suyanto, says a fisherman found the tail stabilizer in waters about 300 meters off Indonesia's Sulawesi island, near Pare Pare.

He says a partial serial number stamped on the wreckage matches that of the Adam Air Boeing 737.

Airline seats, food trays and other parts of the plane have also been found strewn along the shore on Sulawesi island.

The jet was carrying 102 people when it went down in rough weather during a flight from Surabaya on Java island to Manado on Sulawesi.

Authorities are still unsure where the plane crashed, saying the debris could have drifted great distances.

More than 3,600 soldiers, police and volunteers have been scouring Sulawesi's thick jungle and the surrounding seas for the plane for almost two weeks.

Indonesian ships and a U.S. vessel with ocean survey capabilities are being used to determine whether several large metal objects detected by sonar on the seabed off Sulawesi could be parts of the plane.

Relatives have been anxiously awaiting news of the fate of the passengers, after being incorrectly informed last week that the plane's wreckage and 12 survivors had been found.

Adam Air is one of about 30 budget airlines that have sprung up in Indonesia since the industry was deregulated in 1998.

In 2005, 17 Adam Air pilots quit after complaining of poor safety standards.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

Some Recent Disasters in Indonesia

_ Jan. 1: An Indonesian plane disappears in stormy weather after issuing a distress signal during a two-hour flight from East Java to Manado.

_ Dec. 29, 2006: A crowded Indonesian ferry, carrying nearly 640 passengers, breaks apart and sinks in the Java Sea during a violent storm. At least 400 are still missing.

_ Dec. 23, 2006: Days of heavy rain touch off floods that kill more than 100 people and displace over 400,000 on northwestern Sumatra island.

_ June 19, 2006: Heavy rains cause floods and mud flows that kill as many as 300 people in southern Sulawesi province.

_ May 27, 2006: A 6.3-magnitude earthquake in central Java island kills at least 5,800 people and injures more than 36,000.

_ May 2006: A series of explosions spew hot ash down the slopes of Mount Merapi, eventually forcing at least 15,000 villagers to flee their homes.

_ May 2006: Mud flows, set off by an accident deep in a drilling shaft operated by a gas exploration company, displace more than 10,000 people and cover over 1,000 acres of land on Java island.

_ Jan. 4, 2006: At least 200 people are killed when mud and rock covers the village of Cijeruk on Java island in a landslide.

_ Sept. 4, 2005: An Indonesian jet crashes in a residential neighborhood in Medan, the country's third largest city, killing at least 149 people, including 47 on the ground.

_ March 28, 2005: At least 647 people die and tens of thousands are left homeless in a 8.7-magnitude earthquake that hits Nias, Banyak and Simeulue islands off the coast of Sumatra.

_ Dec. 26, 2004: An 8.9-magnitude earthquake sets off a tsunami that kills more than 126,000 people in Indonesia, mostly in Aceh province on Sumatra island, in the country's worst disaster. More than 100,000 others die in several other countries.

© 2006 The Associated Press.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16430595/

Seven dead in Sumatra earthquake

An earthquake has struck Indonesia's Sumatra island, killing at least seven people and wounding around 100 others.

Hundreds of homes were also reported to have been destroyed when the 5.7 magnitude quake hit just before dawn.

Frightened people fled their homes as a series of aftershocks followed the quake, which was felt in northern and western parts of the island.

Half an hour earlier, a 5.8 magnitude quake struck north of Sumatra, in the Indian Ocean south-west of Banda Aceh.

No tsunami warning was issued on this occasion, officials said.

However, villages were reported to have been cut off as the earthquake triggered landslides, hampering rescue operations.

The region was worst hit when a 9.1 magnitude earthquake off the Sumatran coast in December 2004 triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people around the Indian Ocean.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6189165.stm