30 Bodies of AirAsia Victim Evacuated: Basarnas

Jakarta (Antara) - Some 30 bodies of the victims of the ill-fated AirAsia QZ8501 aircraft have been evacuated, according to National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) chief Rear Marshal F Henry Bambang Soelistyo. "Until now, the number of bodies found has reached 30 and the process of sending 10 of them to Surabaya is in progress while four others have been kept in Pangkalan Bun," he said here on Friday. Seven bodies have been kept in KRI Bung Tomo and another one is in Malaysian ship KD Pahang. Eight bodies have already been taken to Surabaya in East Java for identification processes, he noted. Soelistyo remarked that the personnel of Basarnas were fighting bad weather and high waves to move eight bodies from KRI Bung Tomo and KD Pahang to Pangkalan Bun. "Until this moment, they have not been able to work due to severe weather conditions and high waves," he revealed. According to him, all of the bodies were found in the priority sector that was set for the search operation. Besides finding the bodies of victims, joint search and rescue teams have also found debris of the aircraft and other objects. AirAsia flight QZ8501 carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members on board had lost contact with the air traffic control while flying above the Java Sea from Surabaya to Singapore on Sunday morning. Efforts are currently on to find the plane's fuselage and black boxes to help establish the cause of its crash. (*) Reporting by Desi Purnamawati