"...we are from the military will only accompany them."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - After ten days, operations to search and evacuate the victims of Sukhoi Superjet 100 which crashed with 45 passengers on board on Mount Salak, in Bogor, West Java, May 9, 2012, was officially brought to a close on Friday.
So far, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has sent 35 body bags containing body parts and belongings to Halim Perdanakusuma airport. Police said they have received 35 body bags/ 30 contained body parts and 5 contained the victims' properties.
Police have also been successful in identifying 15 of the victims, of whom 10 were men and 5 women. Two of them were foreigners. This are the results of ten days of operations by the joint Search and Rescue (SAR) team. The operations were officially ended on Friday.
"At around 3 p.m., the chief of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Daryatmo officially concluded the operations," Basarnas search mission coordinator Ketut Parwa said at Pasir Pogor camp in Cipelang, Bogor, West Java, on Friday.
He added the Basarnas chief announced the end of the operations at the Halim Perdanakusuma air force base.
On the tenth day, however, the joint Russian and Indonesian team is still searching for the flight data recorder and other aircraft debris needed by Russia.
Until Friday, 35 body bags containing the remains of the victims and their belongings had been sent to Halim Perdanakusuma.
The National Police Hospital said it had received 30 body bags containing body parts and 5 body bags containing belongings.
Police Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team said on Friday until the tenth day it had only been able to identify 15 bodies, including one who was first identified on May 16. "We have identified 15 victims, including one who was identified on Wednesday," Head of the Police Hospital Brig. Gen Agus Prayitno told reporters on Friday.
"Of the 15 identified bodies, five are women," Agus said.
He said that 13 of the identified victims were Indonesians while the remining two were foreign nationals. But he said he could not yet know the citizenship of the two foreigners.
"We do not know yet the citizenship of the two foreign victims whether they are Russians, Americans or French. There were ten foreign nationals joining the ill-fated flight," he said.
He said that the families of the victims who had been identified could not yet take them because his side was still waiting for further findings by Basarnas from the field. "We hope that the families of the victims would be patient until the process is completed. When completed we will then hand the victims to their families," Agus said.
Executive Director of DVI and Head of the Police Hospital`s Medical and Health Center Senior Commissioner Anton Castilani told reporters that the identification process was using primary ante-and post mortem data such as the teeth and the finger prints of the victims.
According to Anton, the DVI team during the identification process could not rely on the secondary ante-mortem data such as jackets and dresses of the victims. "The victims can just exchange jacket with the other victims (before the crash)" he said.
There is no clear number of victims who has been found and evacuated from the crash side as body parts are contained in body bags. The Police hospital only received 35 body bags up to the tenth day of the operations. All passengers accounted for 45 people based on the manifest.
In the meantime, ten personnel of the Russian SAR team will still continue their efforts to search for ruins of the crashed Sukhoi Superjet 100. They need the commercial plane`s debris for examination to find the cause of its crash.
"They are still looking for the ruins of the plane as materials for their investigation of the cause of the crash," Chief the Suryakencana Military Resort 061 of Bogor Col A.M. Putranto said.
The operations of the Russian SAR team is not affected by the termination of the joint SAR operations by the Basarnas, Puranto said. In carrying out their mission, the Russian team will be assisted by the Indonesian military from the Army and the Air Force.
"They have been given the permission by the Basarnas to carry out their own mission and we are from the military will only accompany them," he said.
Regarding the victims, all of their families will receive insurance compensation. The representative office of Russia`s Sukhoi company said that the aircraft manufacturer would provide compensation to the families of the victims of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 plane that crashed on Mount Salak recently.
"All passengers of the ill-fated Sukhoi were covered by insurance, so we will provide compensation to the families of the victims, based on regulations," Pinobradov Igor, Deputy 1 of Sukhoi Aircraft Company, told a press conference at Halim Perdanakusuma airport here on Friday. But he did not mention the amount of compensation.
Sunaryo, consultant of Sukhoi distributor PT Trimarga Rekatama, said the company was now handling insurance claims for the crash victims. There were 35 Indonesian citizens, one Frenchman, one US citizens, and four Russians.
Meanwhile, Commission V of the House of Representatives which deals with transportation affairs said it would summon all parties related the crash of plane.
"If all operations and evacuation processes are already completed, Commission V will summon a number of parties," Sigit Susianto of Commission V said.
He said that the transportation minister, airport operator Angksa Pura, PT Tri Marga (Sukhoi representative), Basarnas and National Committee for Transportation Safety (KNKT) are among the parties which Commission V will summon.
"Air transpiration accident is inseparable from the system," he said.
(T.A014/KR-BSR)
Reporter: by Andi Abdussalam
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
