First coffins of AirAsia flight are taken to airport where devastated relatives prepare to identify their loved ones, as a search pilot reveals victims were found holding hands and one was wearing life jacket
- Two coffins arrived at Juanda Airport for identification earlier today
- Family members have been stationed there since the plane vanished from radars just 42 minutes after departing the airport on Sunday
- More victims are expected to arrive at the airport as the day progresses
- Seventh victim’s body was pulled from the sea earlier this morning
- Pilot assisting search claimed three victims were found still holding hands
The first coffins containing victims of the doomed AirAsia flight 8501 have arrived at an airport where devastated relatives are waiting to identify their loved ones’ bodies.
Two coffins were seen at Juanda Airport near Surabaya in East Java province this morning, where a crisis centre has been providing information to anxious family members since the plane vanished from radars just 42 minutes after departing the airport on Sunday.
The bodies were first transported in body bags from the crash site – 100 miles off the Indonesian coast of Borneo Island – to Iskandar Military Airport near the town of Pangkalan Bun, where they were placed in coffins for the short journey to East Java for formal identification.
Representatives from Basarnas, Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, said a seventh body recovered from the Java Sea this morning was wearing a life jacket, while a pilot assisting the operation claimed three of the victims were found floating in the water still holding hands.
Meanwhile Indonesian search officials using sonar radar technology have confirmed that they have located the fuselage of the the Airbus A320-200 upside down on the floor of the Java Sea.
Rescue workers said the plane is resting in 30 metre deep water in the area off Borneo Island where bodies and wreckage was found yesterday.
Solemn: The first coffins of AirAsia flight 8501 have taken to Juanda Airport where devastated relatives anxiously have been anxiously preparing to identify their loved ones
Indonesian military personnel carry one of two coffins with the remains of bodies recovered from the AirAsia crash site as they arrive for identification at Juanda Airport
The bodies were first transported in body bags from the crash site – 100 miles off the Indonesian coast of Borneo Island – to Iskandar Military Airport near the town of Pangkalan Bun (pictured)
Relatives of the AirAsia plane crash victims pray at Juanda Airport in East Java earlier this morning
A Basarnas rescue helicopter is seen behind three covered bodies recovered from the AirAsia plane as they rest on the deck of KRI Bung Tomo warship off the Java Sea, Indonesia
Lieutenant Airman Tri Wobowo, who co-piloted the C130 Hercules aircraft that first saw debris of the plane on Tuesday, told Indonesian newspaper Kompas: ‘There are seven to eight people. Three [of them] again hold hands.’
Since the wreckage from the plane was discovered off the coast of Borneo Island, after three days of searching, there have been a number of different body counts from several official sources.
However, the chief of Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, Bambang Sulistyo, has confirmed that seven bodies have been recovered including two males, along with one female who was wearing a flight attendant uniform.
He said half of those found were male and half female, including the flight attendant.
On Wednesday, divers were deployed, but heavy rain and clouds grounded helicopters, Sulistyo said.
Members of the Indonesian Air Force crew carry a coffin to a transport plane at Iskandar Military Airport on Borneo Island. From there the bodies made the short journey to East Java for formal identification
Live Indonesian television news footage showed at least one corpse floating in the water yesterday
Search teams monitor a weather map at Pangkalan Bun air base this morning after stormy weather halted the recovery of victims of AirAsia flight QZ8501
A member of the Indonesian military reacts after seeing an unidentified floating dead body from the doomed AirAsia flight 8501 during a search and rescue (SAR) mission
Tragic: The flight went missing from radar at 6.18am local time – six minutes after last communication with air traffic control – while travelling from Indonesia to Singapore with 162 people on board. Search and rescue workers first spotted a number of bodies and debris floating in the water yesterday morning
A public memorial service for the victims will be held in Surabaya on Wednesday night local time, and New Year Eve celebrations have been cancelled, the BBC reported.
‘Now we are focused on praying for the victims,’ East Java governor Soekarwo, who goes by one name, told the BBC.
‘This is a big tragedy for Indonesia and we will do our best for the victims and their families.
Divers and ships will now search the wreckage for the all-important black boxes of the doomed plane, after officials confirmed that the bodies and debris found are from flight 8501.
Aviation experts thought the fuselage would be easily found as the aircraft most likely only broke up when it hit the water.
The Airbus A320-200 was 42 minutes into its flight from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore on Sunday when it vanished with 162 people on board.
Indonesian Marines carry equipment from an air force plane during search and rescue operations
Indonesian marines unload their diving equipment as they prepare to join the search operation for the plane
Rescue workers display the uninflated escape slide from flight 8501 at Pangkalan Bun airport in Indonesia
Officers of the National Search And Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) examine maps of the area where the debris and bodies from AirAsia flight 8501 were found
Several pieces of red, white and black debris – including luggage, a plane door and an emergency slide – were were spotted in the Java Sea near Borneo island on Tuesday.
A 38-year-old Indonesian fisherman, Mohammed Taha, was reportedly the first person to spot any wreckage – despite the multi-million dollar air-search for the jet.
Mr Taha spotted metal objects in the water but didn’t know a plane was missing until he returned to his home in the village of Belinyu on Monday, Indonesian news website Tempo reported.
‘I found a lot of debris – small and large – in the Tujuh islands,’ Mr Taha said.
‘The largest was four metres long and two metres wide. They were red coloured with white silver. It looked like the AirAsia colours.’
Indonesian police officers erect a tent during the ongoing search and rescue operation at Iskandar Military Airport, Pangkalan Bun, Borneo, Indonesia
An air force officer walks through the rain at Pangkalan Bun air base after the operation to find the missing Malaysian air carrier AirAsia flight QZ8501 was halted due to bad weather
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