“Today, a family member came to the DVI post to provide information regarding their relationship with the victim, including submitting a DNA sample,” said the Head of the South Sulawesi Regional Police Medical and Health Division, Senior Commissioner Muhammad Haris, in Makassar on Sunday (January 18).
The visit was intended to ensure a DNA match with the victim if his body is found and to facilitate identification by the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team.
The family member whose DNA sample was collected was Haerul Gunawan, the victim’s younger brother.
“If the body is found, it will be immediately matched with the collected sample,” Haris added.
In addition to the family of victim Muhammad Farhan in South Sulawesi, a family member of Esther Aprilita, a flight attendant on the ATR plane, also visited the West Java Police to provide a DNA sample.
Haris said that his team had coordinated efforts to contact the families of the victims to obtain information and DNA samples.
"We are actively visiting and contacting the families to collect samples," he said.
Earlier, South Sulawesi Police Chief Inspector General Djuhandhani Rahardjo Puro said Bhayangkara Hospital at the South Sulawesi Police Health Clinic is being used as the victim identification center, with personnel from the National Police’s Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) unit deployed on site.
“So far, victims’ families have arrived for post-mortem examinations and data verification. One of them is the younger sibling of the plane’s co-pilot,” he explained.
To support the investigation, police have been coordinating with regional medical services to conduct both post-mortem and ante-mortem examinations to identify the victims.
The aircraft was carrying 10 people: seven crew members and three passengers on board (POB). The three passengers were identified as employees of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP): Ferry Irawan, Deden Mulyana, and Yoga Naufal.
The crew consisted of pilot Captain Andi Dahananto, co-pilot Muhammad Farhan Gunawan, and flight crew members Hariadi, Restu Adi, Dwi Murdiono, Florencia Lolita, and Esther Aprilita.
Previously, an ATR 42-500 aircraft operated by Indonesia Air Transport (IAT) was reported missing while attempting to land at Hasanuddin Airport on Saturday afternoon (January 17). The aircraft disappeared over the Bulusaraung mountain range on the border between Maros and Pangkep regencies in South Sulawesi.
On the second day of the search and rescue operation, the joint SAR team discovered several pieces of aircraft debris and one unidentified body on a nearby mountain.
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Translator: M Darwin Fatir, Resinta S
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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