MT MCKINLEY CLIMBER'S BODY TO ARRIVE IN JAKARTA FRIDAY

New York, July 16 (ANTARA) - The body of Indonesian mountain climber Pungkas Tri Baruno is expected to arrive in Jakarta on Friday, a day later than his colleagues in the Indonesian Scout Movement's Tunas Indonesia expedition team to Mt McKinley in Alaska, USA.
Indonesian Consul General in San Fransisco Yudhistira Sungadi was scheduled to see off Pungkas' body and the team's surviving members, namely Bayu Tresna, Hartman Nugraha and Zulfa Ahyar, in Anchorage, Alaska, early Wednesday.

"We have done our best, but the the flight was full, so the body cannot be flown in the same flight as the team," Yudhistiranto said.

Pungkas' body was evacuated from an altitude of 5,242 meters on a slope of Mt McKinley in Alaska to a base camp at the foot of the highest mountain in North America last Thursday.

Bayu, Hartman, and Zulfa as well as the head of the Indonesian consulate's consular affairs Okto Dorinus Manik would depart Anchorage, Alaska, on Wednesday (July 16) at 4.35 am local time by China Airlines and were expected to arrive at Soekarno-Hatta airport, near Jakarta, on Thursday (July 17) at 1 pm local time.
Pungkas's remains would leave Anchorage at 12.40 am local time on Wednesday also by China Airlines and arrive at Soekarno-Hatta airport at 1 pm local time on Friday (July 18).

Both flights were scheduled to make stopovers in Taipei where the team and Pungkas's body would be transfered to other flights to Jakarta.

"The remains will be handed by the Indonesian Consulate General representative to an Indonesian Scout Movement official," he said.

Pungkas Tri Baruno (20), a student of Mercubuana University, died on Monday (July 7) during a mountain climbing expedition of the Indonesian scout movement on Mt McKinley, Alaska.

He and his colleagues had succeeded in planting Indonesia's national flag and the Indonesian scout movement's flag on the mountain's top at a height of 17,400 feet.

However, on the team's return trip to their base camp, Pungkas fell several times, lost unconsciousness and finally died.