Nine-Year-Old AirAsia Victim Identified

Surabaya, E Java (Antara) - The Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team has successfully identified a nine-year-old passenger of the ill-fated AirAsia QZ8501 aircraft that recently crashed in the Java Sea in Central Kalimantan. Chief of the DVI team of the East Java Police Command Senior Commissioner Budiyono stated here on Friday that parts of the child\'s body had been identified as belonging to Ingrid Jessica Winata, a girl from Surabaya, East Java. \"We were able to identify parts of the body after matching the DNA with the genetic evidence collected from the comb used by the victim taken by the team from her home,\" he added. The body parts were also known to belong to Jessica following an examination using anthropological media based on her age, sex, and height, he explained. With the identification of Jessica\'s remains, the total remains that have been identified by the team have reached 69. Body parts believed to be of the 24 passengers still have to be identified, he noted. The body parts that have so far been sent for identification to the police hospital in Surabaya belong to 93 passengers of the ill-fated aircraft, including 13 that were only received on Thursday. \"We have also received the remains from Majene, West Sulawesi, in the forms of body parts such as legs similar to the ones we had received from Makassar, South Sulawesi,\" he stated. 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 a French FO. (*) Reporting by Abdul Malik Ibrahiam