QZ8501: Nine bodies recovered as of Thursday

A total of nine bodies of victims from the AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ8501 last Sunday have been recovered from the Java Sea so far.

This was confirmed by Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) chief Bambang Soelistyo on Thursday.

Of the nine bodies, eight have been flown out to Surabaya from Pengkalan Bun in Central Kalimantan, the area where the bodies were transferred to after they were fished out from the sea.

Two bodies were transported to Surabaya Thursday night, four were transported in the afternoon while another two were transported yesterday afternoon.

The other body is still in one of the vessels at sea. It has yet to be transported out due to poor weather conditions, said Bambang.

AirAsia, QZ8501

Officers and navy watch as a Bell-412 helicopter prepares to take-off at sea on Jan 1, 2015. Indonesian searchers promised an "all-out effort" to locate bodies from Flight QZ8501 as international investigators joined the hunt. - AFP Photo/Adek Berry

The disaster victim identification (DVI) team will conduct a DNA identification process on the bodies before they are handed over to the respective families.

The first victim of the Flight QZ8501 crash was identified as Hayati Lutfiah Hamid from Sidoarjo, Surabaya. Hayati’s body was identified based on the post-mortem result, thumb print and personal belongings.

An identification card and a chain with the word “Hayati” was retrieved with the body, which was subsequently verified by the next-of-kin and family members.

AirAsia Indonesia CEO Sunu Widyatmoko had handed the remains to her family at a ceremony held at Bhayangkara Hospital in Surabaya.

Flight QZ8501 which operated on an Airbus A320-200 aircraft, had departed the Juanda Airport in Surabaya at 5.25am on Sunday carrying 162 passengers and crew members.

It was scheduled to land at the Changi Airport in Singapore at 8.30am (Malaysian time) on the same day.

The last contact between the plane and the Jakarta air traffic control was at 7.12am Malaysian time.

Passengers on the flight comprised 149 Indonesians, three South Koreans, a Singaporean, a Malaysian and a Briton. The crew comprised six Indonesians and a Frenchman.