JAKARTA (AFP) – The body of a New Zealand helicopter pilot shot dead by rebels in the Papua region has been retrieved, the joint task force of police and soldiers leading the search said yesterday.
Glen Malcolm Conning, 50, a pilot for PT Intan Angkasa Air Service, was killed on Monday after landing in Papua with two Indonesian health workers and two children, all of whom survived.
The Cartenz Peace Taskforce, assembled to deal with the separatists, retrieved his body from the remote area of Alama and transported it to Timika city, it said in a statement.
“The body of the pilot has been evacuated from the Alama district to Timika and arrived at 12.50pm. The body is currently at the Mimika General Hospital for an autopsy,” Cartenz spokesman Bayu Suseno said.
Mimika police head I Komang Budiartha told reporters on Monday that three helicopters had been dispatched for the search effort.
A New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson told AFP yesterday that it was aware of reports of the pilot’s death and said its embassy in Indonesian capital Jakarta was seeking further information from authorities.
The killing comes less than two years after another pilot from New Zealand, Phillip Mehrtens, was abducted by rebels from the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB).
He remains in captivity. TPNPB spokesman Sebby Sambom did not respond to an AFP request for comment yesterday.
