In the meantime, in Surabaya, East Java, the polices Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team members have succeeded in identifying four bodies of the victims of the jet that crashed on Sunday (December 28).
The victims have been identified as Lutfiah Hayati Hamid, Grayson Herbert Linaksita, Khairunisa Haidar Fauzi, and Kevin Alexander Soetjipto.
In another development, locating the aircrafts fuselage and black box was the key task focused in the priority area spanning 1,575 square miles, the Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) authority noted.
The search for the fuselage was carried out by the Basarnas-led operation, while the black box-related task will be handled by the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), Basarnas Chief FH Bambang Sulistyo said.
In conducting its mission, the KNKT has deployed the Kaladaya vessel, he stated, adding that 59 teams of divers got involved in the search efforts, Sulistyo noted.
The mission also involved the Baruna Jaya research vessel, MV Geo Survey vessel, and KN Kadayat vessel as they are equipped with underwater detection systems, he reported.
The three vessels are equipped with scanning sonar and pinger locator, he stated, adding that the evacuation of bodies of the plane crash victims, their luggage, and debris of the ill-fated jet were also being carried out.
The objects that the search crews have, so far, discovered from the waters of Karimata Strait near Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan Province, are still the bodies and luggage of the victims and aircrafts debris.
The ill-fated jet carrying 162 people, including seven crew members, lost contact with Jakartas air traffic control tower on December 28 in its flight from Surabaya, East Java, to Singapore.
(Reported by Jaya Wirawana Manurung/Uu.R013/INE/KR-BSR/R013)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2015
