The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has collected 74 body bags containing human remains recovered from the Sriwijaya Air flight SJ-182 crash site, with identification of those body parts now underway.
Basarnas collected the remains over three days of searching at sea just north off the coast of Tangerang city, where SJ-182 was said to have crashed just four minutes after take off on Saturday afternoon.
“We have found [body parts] that we have put into 74 body bags,” Basarnas chief Bagus Puruhito said yesterday evening.
The Transportation Ministry previously said that there were 62 people on board, including six crew members.
The National Police’s Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) unit says it has identified one victim, a flight attendant, thus far.
Family members of passengers have been providing DNA samples for victim identification over the past few days.
SJ-182, a Boeing 733-500 series, vanished from radar four minutes after its 2:36pm departure from Soekarno-Hatta Airport on Saturday. The plane was bound for the city of Pontianak in West Kalimantan.
Basarnas soon confirmed the discovery of plane debris from the suspected crash site, between the islands Laki and Lancang just north off the coast of Tangerang city.
