Bad Weather Halts AirAsia QZ8501 Evacuation Process

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - Basarnas continues its mission on finding the rest of the AirAsia QZ8501 passengers. The mission however, is greatly interfered as bad weather strikes some vital mission locations. High tide makes it particularly difficult for searchers to work effectively.

"The difficulty lies on the undesirable weather condition.  The tidal wave on operation sites can go up to 3 to 4 meters," Head of Basarnas Marsdya FHB Sulistyo stated during press conference at Basarnas office, Jakarta, Thursday (1/1/2015).

Sulistyo predicts the unfortunately bad weather will continue to halt the evacuation progress until the next few days. Despite the claim, he is still confident to share that his team will yield their utmost dedication on finding the rest of AirAsia QZ8501 passengers.

"My team and I will have to face this kind of weather at least until January 4," he explained.

He illustrates the evacuation process that is currently still under way from KRI Yos Sudarso. Bad weather is a highly overlooked issue. It makes it hard for helicopter to land on ships.

"Due to bad weather, 1 deceased passenger had to be dragged up from the ocean using a rope with one of the rescuers. Helicopter was unable to park, we regret to inform many of you that we were not able to carry the other passenger due to unwanted weather condition," Sulistyo added.

The other 6 victims have been directed to Bhayangkara hospital in Surabaya. East Java DVI Regional Police team has been proven successful in identifying one deceased female body. Her name is Hayati Lutfiah Hamid. AirAsia has returned the body to the families who are still in grief. The other victim has not yet been identified.

While the other 4 bodies belonging to two female and 2 male have arrived in Surabaya. Those four bodies are ready to be examined by the authority. (Akp/Tnt)