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JAKARTA. — With crews from around the world aiding in the search, 30 bodies have been recovered from the wreckage of AirAsia Flight QZ8501, Indonesian officials said yesterday.
What appears to be a piece of the fuselage was found, Singapore’s Defence Ministry said. It resembles a window panel.
Finding the fuselage and the plane’s “black boxes” are a priority, Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said yesterday. There are 59 teams of divers involved, the agency’s chief Bambang Sulistyo said, according to the state-run Antara news agency.
The US Sampson, the US Navy ship that is helping with the search, recovered two of the bodies, the US Seventh Fleet said yesterday.
Indonesian authorities have identified four of the recovered bodies so far. The first victim they identified, an Indonesian woman named Hayati Lutfiah Hamid, was buried Thursday. Many family members are waiting in Surabaya for news about their loved ones.
But with 162 people on the plane when it took off from Surabaya, Indonesia, crews have a long way to go.
AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes said he was travelling yesterday to Surabaya to bring the body of flight attendant Khairunisa Haidar Fauzi home.
“I cannot describe how I feel. There are no words,” he said on Twitter.
Search efforts are concentrated in a zone covering 1,575 square nautical miles (5 400 square kilometers) that officials believe is the “most probable area” to find the remains of the aircraft.
But yesterday, waves in the Java Sea as high as four metres were making it hard for divers to search underwater.
The weather is “the biggest obstacle,” said Bambang Hermanu, chief of police in Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan province, where much of the search operation is based. — CNN.
Online Reporter