AirAsia crash victims found: At least 40 bodies from doomed jet are recovered from the Java Sea
Dozens of bodies spotted floating in the sea off coast of Borneo Island
At least 40 bodies recovered from the water by Indonesian naval vessel
Officials have now confirmed wreckage is from AirAsia flight 8501
Local television showed at least one bloated corpse floating in water
Footage caused relatives watching live news stream to collapse in grief
AirAsia Airbus A320-200 vanished on Sunday with 162 people aboard
By JOHN HALL and BELINDA ROBINSON
DailyMail.com
30 December 2014
Rescue workers searching for the doomed AirAsia flight 8501 have recovered at least 40 bodies from the Java Sea, the Indonesian Navy has confirmed.
Scores of bodies were discovered alongside luggage, a plane door and an emergency slide in the water 100 miles off the coast of Borneo Island earlier today, following three days of searching.
Officials have confirmed that the bodies and debris found in the Java Sea off Indonesia are from flight 8501, and a naval spokesman said the rescuers remain ‘very busy’ retrieving the victims.
Before darkness fell in the area, search teams identified a shadow that they believe to be the plane’s fuselage beneath the water, which is relatively shallow at just 160 feet at its deepest point. Many of the remaining 122 victims are thought likely to still be on board the aircraft.
The recovery of 40 bodies came as devastated relatives of AirAsia crash victims collapsed in grief and were taken to hospital after an Indonesian television station showed disturbing uncensored footage of the swollen corpses floating in the sea.
Images shown on a news channel showed at least one body floating in the water, causing the victims’ relatives – who were watching live reports at crisis-centre at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya – to burst into tears, with some fainting and requiring hospital treatment.
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