"I offer and welcome them if they want to visit the location. This is what we can do to help the families to help allay their grief," General Moeldoko said.
Surabaya, E Java (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Military Commander General Moeldoko has offered the families of AirAsia flight QZ8501 crash victims an opportunity to visit the search and evacuation site in a bid to provide solace to the grieving kin.

"I offer and welcome them if they want to visit the location. This is what we can do to help the families to help allay their grief," General Moeldoko remarked here on Monday.

Military Commander General Moeldoko visited the crisis center at the East Java Police headquarters in Surabaya, East Java, to meet and offer his condolences to the families of AirAsia flight QZ8501 crashs victims.

He explained that his decision to offer the families a view of the search site was purely based on humanitarian grounds, and he had no intentions to impose it on them.

General Moeldoko said the Indonesian Military will provide Hercules C-190 and CN-295 aircraft to carry the families from Juanda Airport, East Java, to Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan.

From Pangkalan Bun, they will visit the central search site of AirAsia flight QZ8501 on board a marine military vessel.

"We welcome all the families to visit, and we will prepare the departure soon. One more time, maybe we can ease their grief through this way," he affirmed.

Moeldoko also confirmed that his personnel will partake in the search and evacuation operations of AirAsia flight QZ8501 in accordance with the National SAR Agency (Basarnas) as the coordinator.

The Indonesian Military has currently deployed seven marine vessels: Bung Tomo-357, Yos Sudarso-353, Rengat-711, Sultan Hasanuddin-366, Sungai Gerong-906, Usman Harun-359, and Frans Kaisiepo-368.

The Usman Harun-359 and Frans Kaisiepo-368 vessels were deployed in the search location on Sunday (Jan. 4) to reinforce the operations team and also to replace the Bung Tomo-357 vessel, which had joined the operations since December 29, 2014.

Besides the marine vessels, the Indonesian Air Force has also deployed two C-130 Hercules aircraft, a Boeing 737 Surveillance aircraft, and two Super Puma helicopters to search for the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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