TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen has announced through his Facebook page that their the country's search and rescue team had found the main body of the crashed AirAsia plane. Pictures of the fuselage, taken by a Singaporean search robot, were later posted on Facebook.
"The MV Swift rescue team has located the fuselage of the AirAsia plane in the Java Sea," Mr. Ng said on Facebook, adding that Singapore had informed the Indonesian search and rescue agency so that recovery operations could begin.
He said that the images were taken by a robot controlled by the search and rescue team. The pictures showed a part of the wing and words on the fuselage that matched with those on the missing plane. The AirAsia slogan "Now Everyone Can Fly" can be seen on the pictures.
Previously, Indonesian Search and Rescue team chief Bambang Soelistyo said the team had also found a piece of fuselage that supposed to be a part of the missing plane.
AirAsia flight QZ8501 carrying 162 passengers and crews crashed around the Karimata Strait during its flight from Surabaya to Singapore.
BBC | DIMAS SIREGAR
