Efforts to locate victims and wreckage of AirAsia flight QZ8501 which
crashed into the Java Sea in
Indonesia on Sunday are being hampered by
stormy weather and strong tides, BBC reports.
Indonesian officials have confirmed that remains and debris found in the waters off Borneo are from the plane.
The authorities have confirmed that six bodies have now been retrieved.
The Airbus A320-200, carrying 162 people from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore, disappeared on Sunday.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has promised a “massive search by
the ships and helicopters” with the focus on recovering the bodies of
victims.
“I feel the loss from this tragedy and we all pray for the families
to be given fortitude and strength,” he said, speaking in Surabaya.
Aircraft from several countries were set to scan the sea in the early
hours of Wednesday morning. Divers were also being deployed to search
for bodies and for the plane’s “black box” flight recorders.
But officials said heavy rain, strong winds and waves of up to 3m
(10ft) had forced them to suspend the air operation, though ships
already in place were continuing the search.
The head of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, Bambang
Soelistyo, said six bodies had now been found. One was a woman wearing
cabin crew uniform.
The bodies had been taken on to a ship and would be brought to the
nearest town, Pangkalan Bun, as soon as the weather improved, he said.
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