An Indonesian official confirmed debris found floating in the Java Sea on Tuesday is from the missing AirAsia jet, presumed to have crashed in shallow waters off the Indonesian coast. Local media reported the sighting of what is thought to be bodies floating in the water.
An Indonesian warship has retrieved 40 bodies so far, a navy spokesman said, local media reported.
The plane has yet to be found and there was no word on the possibility of any survivors. A shadow of what is believed to be the fuselage of the missing AirAsia plane has been spotted from the air, Indonesia’s search and rescue chief says.
Pictures of floating bodies were broadcast on television and relatives of the missing gathered at a crisis center in Surabaya wept with heads in their hands. Several people collapsed in grief and were helped away, a Reuters reporter said.
Indonesian TV showed two relatively large objects, one orange and one grey or brown, floating on the surface. The largest appeared to be several meters in length.
Indonesian officials coming off a helicopter in Pangkalan Bun say they spotted several bodies floating in waters near where the missing AirAsia flight was last seen.
“As we approached, the body seemed bloated,” said First Lieutenant Tri Wibowo, who was on board a Hercules during the search operation, was quoted by the Kompas.com website as saying.
An Airbus A320-200 carrying 162 people and operated by Indonesia AirAsia disappeared in poor weather on Sunday morning during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
About 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea were searching up to 10,000 square nautical miles on Tuesday, officials said.
The U.S. military said the USS Sampson, a guided missile destroyer, would be on the scene later in he day.
Source: haaretz.com