AirAsia Flight QZ8501 LIVE: Indonesia Navy says over 40 bodies recovered, plane not yet found

# The bodies were found about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from land and 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the plane’s last communication with air-traffic control.

# Ten pieces of debris were found during the search for the ill-fated AirAsia Indonesia aircraft southwest of Pangkalan Bun in Central Kalimantan.

# Indonesian Transportation Ministry’s acting director general of air transportation, Djoko Murjatmodjo, confirmed
that that wreckage discovered in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, was from AirAsia flight QZ8501.

# “It has been confirmed that it is debris from an aircraft bearing red and white colours,” Djoko said, citing that the debris was found by the ministry’s rescue team.

# Images on Indonesian television showed a half-naked bloated body bobbing in the sea. Search and rescue teams were lowered on ropes from a hovering helicopter to retrieve corpses.

# The three recovered bodies, swollen but intact, were brought to an Indonesian navy ship, National Search and Rescue Director SB Supriyadi told reporters in the nearest town, Pangkalan Bun. The corpses did not have life jackets on.

# “As we approached, the body seemed bloated,” said First Lieutenant Tri Wibowo, who was on board a Hercules aircraft, was quoted by the Kompas.com website as saying.

# Indonesian rescuers saw bodies and luggage off the coast of Borneo island on Tuesday and officials said they were “95 percent sure” debris spotted in the sea was from a missing AirAsia plane with 162 people on board.

# Pictures of floating bodies were broadcast on television and relatives of the missing gathered at the crisis centre in Surabaya were shown weeping, their heads in their hands.

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# Yusuf said the agency has dispatched at least one helicopter to pick up at least 10 pieces of debris to be checked. The items will be taken to the search and rescue coordination post on Belitung Island.

# “This is the most significant finding, but we cannot confirm anything until the investigation is completed,” he said.

# Flight 8501 disappeared from radar over the Java Sea near Belitung island.

# Spokesman Yusuf Latif said an Indonesian military aircraft saw white, red and black objects, including what appears to be a life jacket, off the coast, about 105 miles (170 kilometers) south of Pangkalan Bun.