1st LD: All 54 bodies discovered at Indonesian plane crash site
Xinhua, August 18, 2015 Adjust font size:
Rescuers have discovered all the 54 bodies of passengers and crew members on board a plane, which crashed in the easternmost province of Papua, the Transport Ministry said on Tuesday.
"At 12:30 a.m. local time (0330 GMT), rescuers have found all 54 bodies, victims of Trigana Air plane," ministry spokesman J.A. Barata told Xinhua.
The ATR-42 turboprop plane, operated by Trignana Air, crashed in Mount Tangok in Bintang district of Papua on Sunday when it was flying from Jayapura, capital of the Papua province, to Oksibil, according to Barata.
The crash site is about 15 to 20 km from the Oksibil airport, National Police chief General Badrodin Haiti said.
The rescuers will evacuate bodies of the victims and retrieve the black boxes on Tuesday, said Fazli, an official from the national search and rescue office.
"The team is prepared for evacuation, including setting up a helipad, and search for the black boxes," he told Xinhua.
Photos released on TV One shown the plane with the flight number TGN267 was broken into pieces in mountainous terrain. Endi