Missing Students' Fate Still Unknown
VIVAnews - The whereabouts of the two missing Indonesian students, Dean Lesmana and Rudi, are still uncertain. The Foreign Affairs Department through the Indonesia Consulate General in Melbourne is still trying to investigate the fate of the students.
"The Consulate General is trying to obtain access and start the search," said the Foreign Affairs Minister, Hassan Wirajuda, before conducting the hearing meeting with Foreign Commission at the House of Representatives on Monday, Feb. 16.
However, Wirajuda cannot confirm whether or not the two Indonesian students have fallen victims to the great bushfires that kills at least 181 people in Australia. "But if they were indeed trapped in the fire, the identification process would take a while," said Wirajuda.
Wirajuda also said that they already sent the disaster victim identification team on Saturday, 14 February, to investigate whether the Indonesian students were killed in the fire.
Six members of the disaster victim identification team from the Indonesia National Police will work together with the Australian authority to identify the fire victim in Victoria, Australia on Monday, 16 February. They will be helping the Victoria Institute of Forensic Medicine. In addition, the team will also try to find the two indonesian students, Dean Lesmana and Rudi which went missing in Marysville, Victoria.
There are more than 4,000 firefighters trying to conquer the flames on nine fire points around Victoria. Authorities from the firefighter's department said that they are making use of the decreasing temperature to put out the flames. They are helped by hundreds of firefighters from around the world.
"I think that they are similar to what we have in southern California and what we've seen up in Montana," said a firefighter from the United States, Doug Alexander, as quoted in ABC Australia's websiteon Sunday, Feb. 15.
"There's a lot of similarities ... you've had drought for 15 years now and you have high fire intensity and rapid rates of spread," he continued.
Alexander said that the United States team will probably stay for one month.
Meanwhile, people were gathered in churches and public facilities around Victoria to commemorate the victims of the worst fire in Australia history. Australia Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, was present in an event in Wandong, north of Melbourne where four people died in the fire. "If there's one thing to say it's that you are not alone," said Rudd.
At least 7,000 people have lost their home in the fire that has already killed more than 181 souls and burned down 1,800 houses. This disaster also burned around 450,000 acres of forest, ranch, and cities.
VIVAnews journalists Ismoko Widjaya, Anggi Kusumadewi, Elin Yunita Kristanti and Shinta Eka Puspasari contributed to this article.
