QZ8501: Four more bodies recovered on Day 13

The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has found four more bodies of the victims of the ill-fated AirAsia QZ8501 flight on Friday, the 13th day of the search and rescue operations, Indonesia's Antara news agency reported.

"The total number of bodies (that have been recovered) has reached 48, of which 41 bodies are in Surabaya, five in Pangkalan Bun, and two are still aboard the Geo Survey ship," Basarnas Chief F. Henry Bambang Soelistyo stated, here, Friday.

The latest recovered bodies were found by divers under the sea as they were still strapped to the passenger seats.

The Geo Survey ship detected objects under the sea, and therefore, some divers were deployed to check them. The divers found two bodies still fastened with safety belts on to the passenger seats.

AirAsia flight QZ8501 disappeared on Dec 28, en route from Surabaya in East Java to Singapore, with 162 people on board. They comprised 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, a British, a Singaporean, a French, and a Malaysian.

The plane is believed to have crashed in the Java Sea near Karimata Strait, some 95 nautical miles from Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan.

The search for the victims and plane's black box is being coordinated by the Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) and also involves the military, police, and transportation ministry, besides teams from several foreign countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, the US, Japan, China, South Korea, India, and Russia.

The aircraft's black box is yet to be located. The search operation has often been hindered by turbulent weather at the crash location.