DVI Team Has Checked 438 DNA Samples Of Sriwijaya Air SJ-182 Passengers

JAKARTA - The Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team has examined hundreds of DNA samples from Sriwijaya Air SJ-`182 passengers. The plane crashed in the waters of the Thousand Islands.

"The total DNA samples that we have examined have reached 438 samples consisting of 293 samples from post mortem and 145 from families," said the Commander of the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) Pusdokkes Polri Kombes Hery Wijatmoko in a press conference held at the Kramat Jati Police Hospital, Tuesday, January 19.

He said that this team would also continue to work on identification until it was complete. "Today we will conduct a postmortem examination by opening four examination tables with a complete team," he said.

Identification will be more focused on DNA matching. Because, after a week of events, Hery considered it would be difficult to identify with other methods such as fingerprint matching.

"We are focusing more on forensic DNA examination because there are increasingly limitations to other examinations, including fingerprints," he said.

As for the number of body bags, to date, Kramat Jati Police Hospital has received 310 bags from the scene. "Then we have received 250 bags for property," said Hery.

"So this is a property that does not attach to the bodypart, so we need supporting data for analysis and inspection," he added.

It is known that the number of passengers that have been identified by the DVI Team currently reaches 34 people.

Most recently, on Monday, January 18, there were five passengers identified, namely Fathima Ashalina M (2); Athar Rizky Riawan (8); Didi Gunardi (49) who is an extra pilot for Sriwijaya Air SJ-182 flight attendant; Gita Lestari (36); and Rahmania Ekananda (39). The five people were identified by DNA matching methods.

Previously reported, the Sriwijaya Air SJ-182 plane on the Jakarta-Pontianak route had lost contact in the Thousand Islands shortly after taking off from Soekarno Hatta Airport on Saturday, January 9, 2020. Furthermore, the authorities confirmed if the plane crashed around Male Island and Lancang Island, Thousand Islands.

The total aircraft carried 62 people, including 12 crew members and 50 passengers consisting of 40 adult passengers, seven children and three babies.