Black Box of Crashed Helicopter Retrieved

Temanggung, Central Java, (Antara) - The black box of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) helicopter that crashed on Sunday afternoon in Temanggung, Central Java, has been found.

Basarnas Chief for Operation and Communication Agus Tamim remarked here on Monday that the black box was recovered at 8 p.m. local time on Sunday.

According to Tamim, the black box will be handed over to the relevant authority for further investigation.

In the meantime, Basarnas Director for Operation and Training Ahmad Ivan remarked that a team of Basarnas will investigate the cause of the accident.

"After the investigation, the team will evacuate the wreckage of the helicopter from its location at a hillside," Ivan said, adding that all eight people in the ill-fated helicopter were killed in the accident.

The victims' bodies have been taken to the Bhayangkara hospital in the provincial city of Semarang for identification.

Their bodies arrived early Monday morning at the hospital here, where the families of the victims and the Central Java Basarnas Chief Agus Haryono were present to receive the bodies for identification.

The identification will be conducted by the Central Java Disaster Victim Identification team.

Earlier on Sunday afternoon, the helicopter of Basarnas was reported to have crashed in Temanggung District of Central Java Province.

Senior Commissioner Djarod Padakova, the public relations officer of the Central Java Regional Police, confirmed here that the helicopter had crashed in a hilly area.

According to Padakova, the Dauphin helicopter of Basarnas was earlier parked at the Gringsing toll gate to monitor the flow of traffic of the Eid al-Fitr or Lebaran travelers.

The helicopter was heading to the Dieng area of Wonosobo District, Central Java Province, to assist the people after the Sileri Crater had erupted on Sunday afternoon.

The Basarnas Public Relations informed about a helicopter that had crashed in Candiroto of Temanggung District during a flight to Wonosobo.(*)