Still Identifying Passengers Of Sriwijaya SJ-182, DVI Team: We Will Take Advantage Of Additional 3 Days

JAKARTA - The Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team emphasized that they would take advantage of the additional three-day time set by Basarnas in an effort to search for passengers and parts of the Sriwijaya Air SJ-182 aircraft that crashed in the waters of the Thousand Islands.

"We took advantage of the additional three days. Then after we stopped Basarnas we shut down, meaning that we focused on post mortem examinations and examinations in the DNA forensic laboratory," said the Commander of the DVI Pusdokkes Polri Kombes Hery Wijatmoko at Kramat Jati Police Hospital, East Jakarta. , Tuesday, January 19.

"We will complete the hundreds of samples, we will analyze, we will profiling, we will match the antemortem data," he added.

That way, he said, all the passengers on the plane's manifest could be identified.

If later any body parts are found at the scene but cannot be identified, the DVI Team will coordinate with a number of parties including Basarnas.

This coordination, continued Hery, is important before his party makes a final decision regarding the samples that were not identified.

"If later unidentified ones are found, we will hold a coordination meeting. Especially with airlines, Director General of Land Transportation, and from Basarnas," he said.

"We will close together before making a decision, we will convey the facts we received, we got from the examination in the DVI team," added Hery.

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.