Body parts, aircraft pieces found in Majene

The Jakarta Post, Makassar, Tuesday February 10 201




More body fragments and aircraft pieces suspected to be part of the AirAsia flight QZ8501 have been found by local fishermen in waters off Majene, West Sulawesi, and Pinrang, South Sulawesi.

The findings led the joint Search and Rescue (SAR) team to continue search operations for AirAsia victims in waters off the two provinces on Tuesday.

The SAR team reported that a leg still covered with a red-and-black striped sock was found by a fisherman on the Wiringtasi village beach in Suppa district, Pinrang regency, South Sulawesi, on Monday evening.

The leg found by Sakka, a resident from Cappa Batue, Suppa district, Pinrang, had been taken to Makassar before it was later sent to Surabaya, East Java, for identification on Tuesday. The body part was suspected to be from one of the people on board QZ8501, which crashed into the Karimata Strait off Central Kalimantan on Dec. 28, 2014.

As of Tuesday, 12 body parts were found in Majene and Pinrang, but the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team in Surabaya later announced that one of them was not from a human body.

The SAR team further explained apart from the body fragment, Sakka also found two objects suspected to be from the inner part of the AirAsia aircraft.

Also on Monday, a fisherman found an object, suspected to be QZ8501’s wing, in Majene waters.

South Sulawesi Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Endi Sutendi said the object was made from fiber and was around three meters in length.

“The wreckage was found by a fisherman namely Damris, 31, in waters around three nautical miles from Waigamo beach in Ulidang village, Tamerodo Sendana district, Majene, on Monday afternoon, when he went fishing in the waters,” said Endi on Tuesday.

The head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Mamuju, Muhammad Rizal, said that also on Monday, a local fisherman found a small fire extinguisher suspected to be from the AirAsia plane in Mamuju waters, West Sulawesi.

He said the object would be handed over to the SAR team post, which had been removed to Parepare from Majene.



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