Indonesia plane crash search team finds remains, debris at sea
Search and rescue personnel worked through the night to find
victims of the Lion Air plane crash in Indonesia, sending 24 body bags to identification
experts as the airline flew dozens of grieving relatives to the country’s capital.
Rescuers carry a body bag containing the remains recovered
from the area where a Lion Air passenger jet is suspected to crash, at Tanjung
Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia. |
Photo Credit: AP
|
The 2-month-old Boeing jet crashed into the Java Sea
early Monday, just minutes after taking off from Jakarta, killing all 189
people on board.
The 2-month-old Boeing jet crashed into the Java Sea early
Monday, just minutes after taking off from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on
board.
The National Search and Rescue Agency said Tuesday that 10
intact bodies as well as body parts had been recovered. President Joko Widodo
had ordered the search and rescue effort to continue through the night.
The disaster has reignited concerns about safety in
Indonesia’s fast-growing aviation industry, which was recently removed from
European Union and U.S. blacklists.
Data pinged from the Boeing 737 Max 8 showed erratic speed,
altitude and direction in the minutes after takeoff. Safety experts cautioned,
however, that the data must be checked for accuracy against the plane’s
so-called black boxes, if they are recovered.
Underwater vehicle
Specialist ships and a remotely operated underwater vehicle
have been deployed to search for the plane’s hull and flight recorder.
Distraught family members struggled to comprehend the sudden
loss of loved ones in the crash of a plane with experienced pilots in fine
weather.
“This is a very difficult time for our family,” said Leo
Sihombing, outside a crisis center set up for family members at Jakarta’s
Soekarno-Hatta airport.
“We know that it is very unlikely that my cousin is still
alive, but no one can provide any certainty or explanation,” he said as other
family members wept and hugged each other.
“What we hope now is rescuers can find his body, so we can
bury him properly, and authorities can reveal what caused the plane crash,”
Sihombing said.
More than 300 people including soldiers, police and
fishermen are involved in the grim search, retrieving aircraft debris and
personal items such as a crumpled cellphone, ID cards and carry-on bags from
the seas northeast of Jakarta.
Search and Rescue Agency chief Muhammad Syaugi has said he’s
certain it won’t take long to locate the hull of the aircraft and its flight
recorders due to the relatively shallow 30 meter (115 foot) depth of the waters
where it crashed.
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