SINGAPORE: It was Alain Oktavianus Siaun’s last vacation together with his family as a bachelor and his fiancée Louise Sidharta was supposed to join them soon.
Louise, who had booked a later flight to Singapore, now fears the worst for businessman Alain, 27, his parents and his three brothers who were on board Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501.
Louise, 25, said she was on her way to the airport in Surabaya to catch her 1.25pm flight to meet her fiancé and his family when she found out that QZ8501 had gone off the radar.
“I heard it on the radio and immediately browsed the Internet and saw the news.
“I knew by then that he was on that flight,” she said when met by reporters waiting outside the special holding room set up at the Terminal 2 of the Singapore Changi International Airport here at around 6.30pm yesterday.
Louise added that she called her fiancé’s relatives in Indonesia who confirmed that Alain and his family were on board the early morning flight.
She said the holiday was planned ahead of their wedding, scheduled to be held in May.
Louise, who maintained her composure while speaking to the media, was accompanied by her sister and other relatives.
She advised the family members of other passengers on the flight to stay strong and shut out negative thoughts.
“We have to stay positive and hope that they would be found soon,” she said, speaking in a mix of English and Bahasa Indonesia.
She said she would remain at the airport’s holding room for the flight passengers’ next of kin to wait for news.
