Authorities from Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said on Monday that they are expecting no survivors from the Lion Air Boeing 737 passenger plane that crashed into the sea.
Around 300 people, which consist of soldiers, police, and local fishermen, are all involved in the search and rescue operation which is expected to last for 7 days.
So far, rescue teams were able to recover body parts, personal belongings, and airplane parts.
According to news.com.au, six body bags have been used so far to hold the remains of the passengers that have been found.
Bambang Suryo Aji, operational director of the search and rescue agency, fears that all 189 people of the plane, which include 181 passengers, including one child and two babies, and eight crew members, are all dead.
“We need to find the main wreckage. I predict there are no survivors, based on body parts found so far,” Express quoted Aji as saying.
Lion Air Flight JT 610 which was bound for Pangkal Pinang from the Indonesian capital Jakarta crashed into the sea 13 minutes after it took off.
The Boeing 737 passenger plane lost contact with the ground control and it was last tracked crossing the sea.
The plane flew from Jakarta at 06:20 AM local time on Monday and was set to land at Depati Amir airport in Pangkal Pinang after an hour.
Lion Air president Edward Sirait said that the plane that crashed, which has only been used for two months, had a technical issue on a previous flight.
He added that the problem in Boeing 737 Max 8 plane had been resolved according to the procedure, but declined to explain the specific problem. The prior problem will be part of the investigation, reported Inquirer.
President Joko Widodo has already ordered the National Commission for Transportation Safety to conduct an investigation to know the cause of the crash.
Photo credits: AP via news.com.au
