The speed boat carrying debris of passenger jet and body of victims arrives at the Tanjung Priok port, Jakarta, Indonesia, Oct. 29, 2018. (Xinhua/Veri Sanovri)
by Abu Hanifah
JAKARTA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Families or friends of those perished in the crashed Indonesian plane are in deep sorrow and shock on Monday night after they lost their beloved ones in such an air disaster that the nation has not seen in the last several years.
At a hospital's Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) section in East Jakarta, relatives and friends of the victims are watching TV anxiously to keep up with the updates of the accident. Some are sobbing, and some are being consoled by their relatives or friends.
They are here to gather the personal things of their beloved ones who unfortunately took the ill-fated Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 which crashed earlier in the day during its flight from Jakarta to Tanjung Pinang in Bangka Belitung province.
Waiting for the developing ante-mortem registration process, 30-year-old Indra Wicaksana, an employee of India's prominent telecom firm Telkomsel, anxiously stands as he is preparing the necessities for the process of his colleague Tami Julian who is listed among the victims.
He did not realize that he would lose his good friend in office in such a quick tragic way after his last chat with him on Friday.
"He flew to Jakarta to take part in the Jakarta Marathon event on Sunday morning and went back to work in Tanjung Pinang on Monday morning," Indra tells Xinhua.
He thinks the death of Tami who worked at the sales division of the company is a bit strange as he actually came to Jakarta for a very healthy event.
"But God apparently has His own plan for my friend," Indra says.
Indra recalls the moment that made nervous as he had to tell Tami's parents about the heart-breaking news.
"They did not say anything but I heard sobbing from a refrained cry on the phone," Indra said. They are on the way to Jakarta to see their son for the last time.
Indonesian authorities have issued orders for all of those having direct blood relations with the victims to undergo the ante-mortem process to identify bodies found by search teams.
Search and Rescue officers collect the debris and passengers'personal items of the Lion Air JT610 that crashed into the sea off Karawang of West Java province in the base of Search and Rescue at the Tanjung Priok port, Jakarta, Oct. 29, 2018.
(Xinhua/Veri Sanovri)
The orders came after the joint search team found bodies and things belonging to the passengers floating in waters off Karawang's Tanjung Pakis beach in West Java province after the plane was reported to have lost contact at around 6.30 a.m. local time on Monday (2330 GMT Sunday).
Bambang Suryo, senior official of the Indonesia National Search and Rescue agency (Basarnas), said that hope was slim to find survivors from the crashed plane.
Wreckage parts were found at a depth of around 35 meters below the sea surface. The joint search team would deploy Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and other high technology instruments to locate the wreckages of the plane.
The plane crash was estimated to take place 13 minutes after its departure from the international airport of Soekarno-Hatta (CGK) in Banten province.
Pilots of the crashed plane requested a Return To Base (RTB) procedure, which was allowed by the CGK airport, after they encountered unusual things in the plane.
A 24-hour search activity would be carried out by the Indonesian search team to find bodies of the 189 passengers and crews onboard the ill-fated new plane, which has only started serving the airlines since August.
Search and Rescue officers gather at the joint base of Search and Rescue at the Tanjung Priok Port, Jakarta, Oct. 29, 2018. (Xinhua/Veri Sanovri)
Lion Air was the only operator of the latest variant of Boeing 737 Max 8, which it ordered from the United States.
The new variant of the Boeing 737 plane has bigger body than other 737 variants, and is said to be equipped with more advanced engines and high technology equipment.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has conveyed his deepest condolence to the victims' families, and vowed to undertake a thorough search operation.
Indonesia's last deadly plane crash occurred in December 2014 on an Airbus 320 operated by Indonesia Air Asia during its flight from Surabaya to Singapore, killing 162 people onboard.
