SRIWIJAYA AIR CRASH: BODY PARTS, PLANE DEBRIS FOUND, BLACK BOX DETECTED

10 JAN 2021

JAKARTA: The search and rescue (SAR) operation for survivors of Sriwijaya Air jetliner which crashed in the waters of Thousand Islands have found debris of the plane, engine, luggage as well as human remains.

The search operation is now focused on retrieving the air craft black box after the coordinates of the crash location have been identified.

Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) chief Hadi Tjahjanto in a live media broadcast over a local television network said an SAR team had identified the black box with coordinates at a depth of 23 metres in the waters.

As at 4 pm, five bags of body parts had been sent to the Indonesian Police Hospital in Kramat Jati.

Kramat Jati Police Hospital head Asep Hendradiana was quoted by Antara News Agency as saying the hospital was gathering the "deoxyribonucleic acid" (dna) of family members of passengers of the ill-fated plane.

Communications and Public Information Bureau of the Indonesian Communications and Information Technology Ministry in a statement said that the SAR has so far found air craft debris, passenger belongings as well as identification documents.

The Boeing 737-500 Sriwijaya Air jetliner which lost contact at 2.36 pm Western Indonesia time, was on its way from Jakarta to Pontianak, before crashing in the waters of Thousand Islands, Jakarta.

The Sriwijaya SJ-182 flight was carrying 62 passengers including 12 crew members. -Bernama