TEMPO.CO, Surabaya - Sen. Com. Budiono, Chief of the East Java Police Disaster Victim Identification team, said that AirAsia flight QZ8501 victims are hard to be identified because bodies of the victims have been covered in camphor and coffee to eliminate unpleasant odors.
"We have coordinated with the search and rescue team not to [apply] camphor and coffee [on the bodies]," he said.
Even though the search and rescue team acknowledged that giving camphor and coffee can eliminate odors, the substances should not applied to the victims bodies. In order to identify the victims, the Easy Java DVI team had collected personal belongings in the victims' houses and search for DNA samples.
Budiono added that out of the 69 bodies that are being stored at the Bhayangkara hospital in East Java, 54 bodies have been successfully identified and handed over to their families.
MOHAMMAD SYARRAFAH
