Relatives cried and hugged each other as bodies were shown on live TV |
At
least 40 bodies have been recovered from the sea in the search for missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501, the Indonesian
navy says.
The
bodies were spotted along with debris floating in the Java Sea off the Indonesian part of Borneo,
in one of the search zones for the plane.
There
has been no official confirmation that the remains come from the plane. See more picx..
Searchers have found what they think is the missing plane's slide |
The
Airbus A320-200, carrying 162 people from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore,
disappeared on Sunday.
The
search operation is now in its third day, with the area widened to cover 13
zones over land and sea.
During a news conference by the head of the
operation, shown live on Indonesian TV, pictures of the debris were shown
including a body floating on the water.
Relatives of passengers on the plane watching the pictures were
visibly shocked.
Later, the Indonesian navy reported that 40 bodies had been
retrieved by one warship.
Its spokesman said the rescuers were continuing to recover
bodies and were "very busy now".
AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes tweeted to the families: "My heart is
filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ 8501. On behalf of
AirAsia my condolences."
Search
operation head Bambang Soelistyo said he was 95% certain the objects shown were
from the plane, adding that a shadow was spotted under water which appeared to
be in the shape of a plane.
All resources were now being sent to the area where the debris
was found, he said.
Mr Soelistyo added that ships with more sophisticated technology were being
deployed to check whether larger parts of the plane were submerged beneath the
debris.
Indonesian civil aviation chief Djoko Murjatmodjo, quoted by AFP
news agency, said "significant things" such as a passenger door and
cargo door had been found.
He added that the objects had been found 160km (100 miles)
south-west of Pangkalan Bun in Borneo's Central Kalimantan province.
At least 30 ships, 15 aircraft and seven helicopters joined the
operation when it resumed at 06:00 local time on Tuesday (23:00
GMT Monday).
The
operation, led by Indonesia, includes assistance from Malaysia, Singapore and
Australia, with other offers of help from South Korea, Thailand, China and
France. The US destroyer USS Sampson is on its way to the zone.
Communication lost
On
board the plane were 137 adult passengers, 17 children and one infant, along
with two pilots and five crew.
Most
were Indonesian but the passengers included one UK national, a Malaysian, a
Singaporean and three South Koreans.
The
plane left Surabaya at 05:35 Jakarta time on Sunday and had been due to arrive
in Singapore two hours later.
Safety officials say the captain had asked for permission to
take the plane higher but, by the time permission was granted, communication
with the plane was lost.
It was officially declared missing at 07:55.
AirAsia previously had an excellent safety record and there were
no fatal accidents involving its aircraft.
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