Indonesia Stops Search, Evacuation Operation for AirAsia Victims

Surabaya, E Java (Antara) - Search and evacuation efforts for the victims of the ill-fated AirAsia QZ8501 have been officially stopped, according to Chief of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Vice Marshal F.H.B. Soelistyo. \"I and the victims\' relatives have agreed to officially end the search and evacuation operation at 1:45 p.m. local time,\" Soelistyo stated here, Tuesday. They also agreed that Basarnas will conduct additional operation for seven days starting March 9, 2015. \"We will try again only for a week. This additional operation is to respect the victims\' relatives. However, after this, I will completely stop it,\" he noted. The identification of some victims\' is still pending, however, the process will continue until all the recovered bodies are identified and returned to their families. \"We have told the media that 103 bodies have been recovered, in addition to the four body bags that we discovered in the plane\'s fuselage. The four have not been identified,\" he added. Vice Marshal Soelistyo held a closed-door meeting with relatives of the AirAsia QZ8501 victims at the East Java Police Headquarters on Tuesday. The Indonesia AirAsia Airbus A320-200 lost contact with air traffic control over the Java Sea on Dec. 28 morning, shortly after taking off from Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, East Java province, en route to Singapore. (*)