Balloon victim identification to take time

Identification of the 11 victims of the fiery hot air balloon crash in the Wairarapa on Saturday is expected to take a number of days.

The last four bodies that had remained at the Somerset Road site were taken to the Wellington mortuary on Monday evening.

The disaster victim identification process is underway, but will take some time to complete, police say.

Wairarapa police area commander, Inspector Brent Register, says a scene examination will also continue over the next few days.

Police are working alongside the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC), which spent Monday carrying out its own detailed examination.

Emma Peel from the Civil Aviation Authority says the TAIC is looking into what caused the tragedy.

"The CAA is not conducting the safety investigation, that's being carried out be the Transport Accident Investigation Commission, and they're looking at what's caused the accident."

The CAA is investigating under the Health and Safety Act, looking at whether the company carried out its responsibilities to its employees and the passengers.

TAIC spokesman Peter Northcote says packing evidence for transport to a secure facility could take until Thursday.

The 10 passengers and pilot, all from the greater Wellington region, had been on an early morning scenic flight around Carterton before the balloon apparently hit power lines, caught fire and crashed to the ground.

The crash claimed the lives of four couples - Stephen Hopkirk and Belinda Harter, Howard and Diana Cox, Desmond and Ann Dean, and Johannes Jordann and Alexis Still - along with cousins Valerie Bennett and Denise Dellabarca, and pilot Lance Hopping.

It is New Zealand's worst air disaster since the 1979 Mt Erebus crash.

NZN / RadioLIVE
Tue, 10 Jan 2012 8:40a.m.

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