The search for victims and wreckage of AirAsia flight QZ8501, which crashed in the Karimata Strait, Central Kalimantan, has been expanded to the Makassar Strait in Donggala regency, Central Sulawesi.
The move came following the finding by a local fisherman in Toale subdistrict, Donggala, of parts of an overhead cabin locker suspected to be from the plane.
National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Palu branch operational section head George LM Randang said the find would be the basis for a new search.
“As the stream continues to move to the north, the search will most likely expand as far as the Central Sulawesi region,” George said.
According to him, Basarnas Palu had set up a coordination post in the Pasangkayu region, West Sulawesi, to support the team that was currently sweeping Majene waters with the Makassar search and rescue team.
Separately, a number of fishermen in Donggala said they found pieces of an aircraft that they suspected were from the AirAsia flight.
One of the fishermen, 52-year-old Lamori, said he was surprised when finding parts of an aircraft overhead locker in Donggala waters on Monday.
Other fishermen said they had found many similar pieces while searching for fish.
Based on Lamori’s information, Basarnas Palu and the Donggala Water Police coordinated to search the region. They found parts of an aircraft ceiling and doors.
The findings were to be sent to Surabaya, East Java, for examination.
Meanwhile, in Pinrang regency, South Sulawesi, fishermen reportedly found two bones thought to be from human feet and more aircraft parts on Wednesday.
The bones were found by different fishermen in separate places along the Suppa district coastline, Pinrang, some 950 kilometers from the flight’s crash site.
Fauzan Mahmud of the joint search and rescue team said the first bone was found at about 8 a.m. local time not far from the beach.
The second bone was found at about 10 a.m. the same day in Wiringtasi subdistrict, Suppa. An Adidas trainer was attached to the bone.
“One bone found this morning paired with [the other]. Both were found with trainers of the same brand, black Adidas with a yellow base,” Fauzan said, adding that the bones were found 15 km apart.
The bones found on Wednesday would be transported to Bhayangkara Makassar Hospital, where they would be flown to Surabaya for identification.
Fauzan Mahmud of the joint search and rescue team said the first bone was found at about 8 a.m. local time not far from the beach.
The second bone was found at about 10 a.m. the same day in Wiringtasi subdistrict, Suppa. An Adidas trainer was attached to the bone.
“One bone found this morning paired with [the other]. Both were found with trainers of the same brand, black Adidas with a yellow base,” Fauzan said, adding that the bones were found 15 km apart.
The bones found on Wednesday would be transported to Bhayangkara Makassar Hospital, where they would be flown to Surabaya for identification.
Basarnas Makassar head Roki Azikin said although all body parts and aircraft wreckage had been found by the fishermen, the joint search and rescue team would continue to search waters from Majene to Mamuju in West Sulawesi to the north and to Pinrang and Pare-pare in South Sulawesi to the south.
“We’re currently focusing on the south, which is on Pinrang and Pare-pare,” said Roki, adding that he was unsure how long the search would go on.
However, not all body parts sent from South Sulawesi to the East Java Police’s Disaster and Victim Identification (DVI) unit are from the bodies of victims on the AirAsia flight.
“Today, we determined that one body part labelled B007 is not one of the plane’s victims, but is instead from a primate,” DVI team chief Sr. Comr. Budiyono said as quoted by kompas.com on Wednesday.
Thursday 5 February 2015
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/05/search-victims-expands-c-sulawesi.html
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