AIRASIA INDONESIA FLIGHT QZ 8501 UPDATE

AS PER 14 JANUARY 2015 22:00 HRS LT (GMT+7)

SURABAYA, 14^TH JANUARY 2015 – The National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) Republic of Indonesia this evening confirmed to have located the fuselage of QZ8501 in the second focused primary area. The confirmation followed the visual confirmation captured by a SAR vessel's Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) showing the main wreckage of QZ 8501 aircraft as well as the right wing on the seafloor of the Java Sea. Sea divers from SAR team will be deployed tomorrow morning for recovery operations. 

In addition, BASARNAS also confirmed to have recovered two additional passengers’ remains which were located near Sembilan Island, approximately 70 miles southwest from Kota Baru, South Borneo. The two remains will be transported to Pangkalan Bun and then to Bhayangkara Hospital in Surabaya for identification.

Meanwhile in Surabaya, Simon Djidrovski Coordinator EDPS, DVI Unit Police Forensics Sub-Directorate INTERPOL visited the crisis center at the East Java Region Police Headquarter this morning. During his visit, Simon also supervised the overall identification process led by the Disaster Victim Identification Police Department Republic of Indonesia (DVI POLRI) and he extended his appreciation on how the on-going DVI process has been conducted in accordance with INTERPOL DVI guidelines. 

In addition, DVI POLRI announced that two more passengers have been identified as: Jie Stephanie Gunawan (female) and Christanto Leoma Hutama (male) today.

To date, BASARNAS has confirmed to have recovered a total of 50 remains of which 38 have been identified by DVI POLRI, 10 are still being identified and 2 have yet arrived at Bhayangkara Hospital.

AirAsia Indonesia would like to take this opportunity to urge the public seeking progress on the search and evacuation; and identification process of QZ 8501 passengers to refer solely to official information from BASARNAS and DVI POLRI.

You may also obtain substantiated information only from authorised AirAsia social media accounts: Facebook (www.facebook.com/AirAsia) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/AirAsia) 

Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families and friends of our passengers and colleagues on board QZ 8501.

Note to Editors: We ask that members of the news media do not call the AirAsia Emergency Call Centre, as this line is reserved for family members seeking information about those who may have been on board.