Forensic team receives DNA from victims’ relatives to compare with remains found at crash site.
In an effort to identify the remains of the Indonesian passenger plane that crashed Saturday with 62 people on board, a hospital in Jakarta has received 21 DNA samples from the victims’ families.
The Kramat Jati Police Hospital will try to match the DNA samples with several bags of human remains recovered from the crash site of the Sriwijaya Air flight, National Police spokesman Rusdi Hartono said Sunday.
“We are asking the families of the victims to help the DVI [Disaster Victim Identification] team to carry out their tasks,” Rusdi told a news conference in the capital Jakarta.
He said victims’ families could provide data in the form of diploma documents, family cards or other materials.
Rusdi added that any information would greatly help the DVI team in identifying the bodies of the crash victims.
According to Rusdi, the team consists of more than 300 police, military and health ministry personnel, as well as members of the Indonesian Forensic Expert Association.
The remains were found near the underwater crash site, in the Thousand Islands area between Lancang and Laki islands.
The domestic flight took off from Jakarta’s Soekarno Hatta Airport bound for the city of Pontianak in western Borneo when it lost contact minutes after takeoff. On board were 50 passengers, including 10 children, and 12 crew members.
