INDONESIA: US BEGIN EVACUATION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS скачать в хорошем качестве

INDONESIA: US BEGIN EVACUATION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS

(16 May 1998) Eng/Jap/Nat Amid continuing unrest in Indonesia thousands of Americans and other expatriates besieged airport ticket counters and travel agents on Friday in the hope of getting a flight to anywhere. The U-S government has chartered planes to help those people unable to purchase tickets and the first evacuation flight touched down in Singapore in the early hours of Saturday morning. Many countries including Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, have advised their citizens to leave. A huge evacuation programme began on Friday to help western nationals escape from a riot torn Indonesia that is bordering on anarchy. The U-S Embassy said Friday it would evacuate American citizens and their immediate families from the capital as looting, rioting and arson raged for a fourth day. Nearly 1-thousand evacuees were headed for Singapore and Bangkok aboard two chartered Cathay Pacific Boeing 7-4-7's. Embassy spokesman Craig Stromme said the U-S government would charter two Boeing 7-4-7's for Americans unable to obtain commercial airline seats out of the country. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I think all of us have moved quickly when we came to the realisation that the situation was one where we couldn't be sure of the safety of our citizens. We were conscious of the lead time it took to get the operation moving so we tried to move as quickly as possible once we'd reached that decision" SUPER CAPTION: Craig Stromme, US Embassy spokesman About 8-thousand Americans live in Indonesia, mostly in Jakarta, which has been wracked by massive riots during the past four days. Jakarta's Halim airport, normally used by the military, was filled Friday with mothers pushing pushchairs, restless children, and luggage that had been hastily packed that morning. Despite the violence on the streets of the capital one American at the airport seemed to take it in his stride. VOXPOP: (English) "I'm certain they'll get this cleared up very quickly and we'll be back. I think this is just an unfortunate thing that will get cleared up and life will go on" SUPER CAPTION: US evacuee Information about the planned evacuation had been distributed through the American community and a 24-hour crisis center had been set up at the airport to assist U-S citizens. No foreigners have been reported hurt in protests and riots that have swept the city since Tuesday. The first plane carrying evacuees touched down in Singapore in the early hours of Saturday morning, and the passengers seemed very relieved. VOXPOP: (English) "There was looting, and from our house from the balcony you could see the fires getting up where they've burned shops" SUPER CAPTION: Austrian evacuee VOXPOP: (English) Initially not, but then it seemed to be moving into the residential areas, and that was when it was....yes.....scarey" SUPER CAPTION: Australian evacuee Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand are among the several countries that have advised their citizens to leave. VOXPOP: (Japanese) "I'm glad I've arrived in Singapore. I had to wait 8 hours at the airport in Indonesia. There were lots of tired children there. When we finally arrived in Singapore I thought, We've made it" SUPER CAPTION: Japanese evacuee Over the last week hundreds of Indonesians have been killed in the violence as looters burned shops and houses, tore down road signs and pillaged banks and offices. Embassy officials said there would be more flights over the weekend to evacuate those who were unable to get seats on the first two flights and others who wanted to leave. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...