Indonesian divers have found another seven victims of the AirAsia plane crash, taking to 84 the number of bodies retrieved since the accident in late December.
Two bodies were found inside the fuselage of the plane on Monday, while another four were located near the wreckage on the bottom of the Java Sea, AirAsia said in a statement.
Another body was located on Sunday as Indonesia's national search and rescue agency BASARNAS resumed operations.
Divers had taken a two-day break after searching at sea for weeks in poor weather conditions.
"To date, BASARNAS has confirmed to have recovered a total of 84 remains of which 64 remains have been identified by [the Disaster Victim Identification Police Department Republic of Indonesia], 13 remains are still being identified and seven remains have yet to arrive at Bhayangkara Hospital, Surabaya," the statement said.
The mission is continuing to search for the bodies of the remaining 78 people aboard flight QZ8501, which went down in stormy weather during what was supposed to be a short trip from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
The search and rescue operation using vessels, sea riders and inflatable boats is focused on the area around the Karimata Strait and the Java Sea.
"[Search and rescue] vessels and sea divers were deployed in order to locate more passengers and plane debris around the area," AirAsia said in the statement.
The Indonesian military, which has provided the bulk of personnel and equipment for the operation, withdrew from the search last week.
Civilian search and rescue agency BASARNAS is expected to re-evaluate whether to continue their search mission over the coming days.
The agency said the main aim of the operation was to find more bodies, not to lift the plane's fuselage, which has split in two.
Tuesday 3 January 2015
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-03/airasia-flight-qz8501-search-crews-find-seven-victims/6064548
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