"There has been no shortage of equipment or systems in the past two days. Everything is available," Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Chief Vice Marshal F.H. Bambang Soelistyo said.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - All search and rescue (SAR) forces and equipment have been deployed on location to continue the search for the AirAsia QZ8501 wreckage, National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Chief Vice Marshal F.H. Bambang Soelistyo stated.
"There has been no shortage of equipment or systems in the past two days. Everything is available. It is now up to us to use them for the search operation," he informed the press at the Basarnas headquarters here on Tuesday.
He said the weather conditions were favorable in the morning on the tenth day of the search operations, and since 6:05 a.m. local time, the joint SAR team has already begun working while some divers have even been deployed to the newly declared second priority sector.
Five ships carrying underwater detection equipment are currently working in the second sector, including KRI Hasanuddin, KRI Usman Harun, Geosurvey, and Baruna Jaya I.
Until Tuesday morning, a total of 37 bodies have been found and evacuated.
Soelistyo explained that the focus of the search operations still remained on the four sectors, including the two priority sectors.
Besides the five ships, other teams are also working in the four sectors that have been determined to find the bodies of the victims and debris of the aircraft that might have been swept away by the sea currents.
The AirAsia QZ8501, carrying 162 passengers including crew members, was flying from Surabaya to Singapore when it crashed on Sunday (Dec. 28) in the waters around Kumai Bay in Central Kalimantan, believably due to bad weather.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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