Jakarta – An Indonesian passenger plan with 188 people crashed into the sea after a while it took off from Jakarta on Monday morning.
Flight JT 610 – Lion Air Boeing 737 – took off for Pangkal Pinang Belitung Islands when it lost contact with the air-control room and crashed into the sea 30 meters to 40 meters deep.
Officials said the plane had 178 adults, one infant and two babies, as well as two pilots and five cabin crew.
Despite, rescue operations are tirelessly going on, and no survivors have been found yet.
“We don’t know yet whether there are any survivors,” the agency’s head, Muhmmad Syaugi, told media.
“We hope, we pray, but we cannot confirm,” he sighed.
“The plane crashed into water about 30m to 40m deep,” Search and Rescue Agency spokesman Yusuf Latif told AFP news agency.
“We’re still searching for the remains of the plane,” he added.
According to rescue agency tweet, passengers’ ID cards, driving licenses, and other personal belonging have been found in the water.
The flight took off from Jakarta at 06:20 local time on Monday morning (23:30 GMT on Sunday), and it was to arrive at Depati Amir Airport in Pangkal Pinang an hour later, but control room lost contact with the plane.
However, Lion Air officials said in a statement that the pilot – Bhavye Suneja from New Delhi – had 6,000 hours of flight hours experience and co-pilot had more than 5,000 hours.
Among the deceased are 20 employees of Indonesia’s finance ministry.
Nufransa Wira Sakti – spokesperson Indonesia’s finance ministry said about their employees – “they worked at the finance ministry offices in Pangkal Pinang but had been in Jakarta for the weekend. They routinely took this flight.”
Edward Sirait – chief executive of Lion Air Group told Reuters – “We don’t dare to say what the facts are, or are not, yet. We are also confused about the why, since it was a new plane.”
“The previous flight had a technical problem, and it was resolved according to the procedures,” he said.
Indonesian president – Joko Widodo said – “We are doing our best to find and save victims, and I continue to pray and hope that the victims can be found soon.”
He called for the country’s prayers and support.
