A collapsed building in Palu: an air traffic controller is being hailed as a hero after staying at his post during the quake (AFP Photo/OLA GONDRONK) |
Jakarta (AFP) - An Indonesian air traffic controller is being posthumously hailed as a hero for refusing to leave his post despite devastating earthquakes so that he could guide a passenger jet safely off the ground.
Twenty-one-year-old
Anthonius Gunawan Agung was on duty in the air traffic control tower at Palu's
Mutiara SIS Al-Jufrie airport when a series of earthquakes struck the city in
Sulawesi island on Friday.
Officials
say he refused to leave his post until he got an Batik Air plane off the
ground, while his colleagues who were not handling aircraft departed.
"When
the quake happened, he was giving clearance to Batik Air to take off and waited
for the plane to be safely airborne before finally leaving the ATC cabin
tower," said AirNav Indonesia spokesman Yohanes Harry Sirait.
After
Flight 6231 was safely in the air the quakes became ever-stronger, culminating
in a 7.5 magnitude jolt and tsunami. At least 832 people are confirmed dead.
Eventually,
Agung jumped from the top of the crumbling four-storey tower in a desperate bid
to escape, breaking his leg and suffering serious internal injuries.
He was
taken to a nearby hospital where he received basic treatment, but died before a
helicopter could arrive to transport him to a better-equipped facility.
The company
will raise Agung's rank by two levels as a sign of appreciation for his
extraordinary dedication, AirNav said in a statement.
Local
station Metro TV was among those who hailed Agung's "heroic act".
The
Indonesian archipelago sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where
tectonic plates collide and many of the world's volcanic eruptions and
earthquakes occur.
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