DVI Team Identifies Four More Bodies of AirAsia QZ8501 Passengers

Surabaya, E Java (Antara) -- Four bodies of victims of AirAsia flight QZ8501 were identified by the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team on Saturday, 35 days after the aircraft crashed. Chief of the DVI team of East Java Police Senior Commissioner Budiyono said here on Saturday that the DVI team has identified as many as 64 bodies of passengers so far. The first body, labeled B058, was identified as Nanang Priyo Widodo (44). The second body, labeled B059, was identified as Donna Indah Nurwatie (39). Both were residents of Malang district, East Java province. The third body, labeled B060, was identified as Andrian Fernando (13), a resident of Petemon 4/8 Surabaya, while the body labeled B061 was identified as Viona Florensia Abraham (19), a resident of Tomra village, Pulau Leti sub-district of Southwest Maluku district. "All four bodies, which were in decayed conditions, were identified by matching their DNA with those of their relatives, parents, or children," Budiyono stated. In addition, the DVI team received two bodies, which were found in the waters of Majene, West Kalimantan, for identification. Based on their initial identification, they were identified as Syaiful Rahmat, a resident of RT 009 RW 009 of Halim Perdanakusumah village, East Jakarta, and Joe Jong Fei, a resident of Taman Kendang Sari, Surabaya, East Java. It is believed that Rahmat may have been the technician of the ill-fated AirAsia aircraft. The AirAsia Airbus A320-200 carrying 162 people had gone missing on the morning of December 28 after losing contact with air traffic control on its way from Surabaya, East Java, to Singapore. Flight QZ8501 lost contact after the pilot sought permission to climb to 38 thousand feet from 32 thousand feet to avoid stormy weather over the sea between Bangka Belitung and West Kalimantan. The aircraft carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members took off from Juanda International airport in Surabaya at 5:36 a.m. local time and lost contact with the Jakarta air traffic control at 6:17 a.m. local time. The plane, piloted by Captain Iriyanto and First Officer (FO) Remi Emmanuel Plesel, was scheduled to arrive in Singapore at 8:30 a.m. local time. Seven foreigners were among the passengers of the missing jet. The foreign nationals included three Koreans, a Singaporean, a Briton, a Malaysian, and the French FO. (*) Reporting by Abdul Malik Ibrahim