AirAsia crash: Eighth body recovered, bad weather hampers search

Jakarta, January 1: Another body from the victims of the crashed AirAsia plane in the Java Sea was recovered on Thursday, taking the total number of bodies found till now to eight but bad weather continued to hamper the search operation.

A Malaysian ship involved in evacuation operations recovered a body and luggage believed to be of a victim of AirAsia flight QZ8501 which crashed with 162 on board Sunday, Indonesia’s Antara news agency reported.

“According to the information we have received from the air force, a body and a luggage were found by a Malaysian ship, and the body was later transferred to a nearby hospital by a chopper of Basars (tiol Search and Rescue Agency),” a police officer of the DVI command post at Pangkalan Bun in Central Kalimantan province said Thursday.

The body arrived at the Regiol Public Hospital of Imanuddin in Pangkalan Bun at 11.40 a.m. for prelimiry identification.

The eight bodies recovered so far have been retrieved from the Java Sea, near Karimata Strait, some 95 utical miles from Pangkalan Bun, where the plane was believed to have gone down.

The bodies were first taken to Imanuddin Hospital and later transported to Surabaya, the Indonesian city from where the ill–fated flight took off early Sunday morning for Singapore. (IANS)