This aerial view taken over the Java Sea shows floating debris from AirAsia flight QZ8501. Picture: Bay Ismoyo Source: Supplied
RELATIVES of passengers on AirAsia flight QZ8501 began crying hysterically and fainting as Indonesian television footage showed a body floating in the sea during aerial searches for the plane.
At least two distraught family members were carried out on stretchers from the room where they had been waiting for news in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city — the takeoff point for the aircraft that disappeared during a storm on Sunday.
TV One, the network which showed the footage, have since apologised
“My heart will be totally crushed if it’s true. I will lose a son,” 60-year-old Dwijanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP.
More than 48 hours after the Airbus A320-200 lost contact carrying 162 people to Singapore, aerial searchers spotted items in the Java Sea which officials said were from the plane.
The navy later said 40 bodies had been retrieved from the water. “Based on the navy radio, it has been reported that the warship Bung Tomo has retrieved 40 bodies and the number is growing. They are very busy now,” spokesman Manahan Simorangkir said.
As the first body was shown floating in the water on rolling television news, relatives burst into tears and hugged one another amid cries for more ambulances, said an AFP reporter at the scene.
A relative of one of the passengers on AirAsia flight QZ 8501 receives medical attention as he collapses at the breaking news of debris and bodies being found. Picture: Robertus Pudyanto Source: Getty Images
In this image taken from video released by TV One, a rescuer is lowered on rope from a hovering helicopter near a body in Java Sea waters in Indonesia. Picture: TV One Source: AP
One man covered his face and had to be held up by two other men before he fainted and was taken out by stretcher. Another woman was screaming and crying as she was supported by the mayor of Surabaya. A female AirAsia officer shouted at the television media for showing footage of a floating body, while about 200 journalists were barred from the room holding the families, the windows of which were boarded up.
“Is it possible for you not to show a picture of the dead?
Please do not show a picture of a dead body,” said the officer. “That’s crazy.” Munif, a 50-year-old whose younger brother Siti Rahmah was on the plane, said he had been trying hard to keep the other families calm.
“But the atmosphere was very different after the footage of a dead body was shown. Families became hysterical,” he said.
“Because everyone was wailing and yelling, I couldn’t deal with it so I decided to leave the room.” In Malaysia, families of those on the MH370 flight that went missing without a trace in March hoped those lost in the latest tragedy could at least have a proper burial.
“The families can now have a closure and have a peace of mind which I am dying for,” said Selamat Omar, whose 29-year-old son was on the Malaysia Airlines plane.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s search chief said a plane had spotted a “shadow” on the seabed which is believed to be the missing AirAsia jet. - news.com.au
No comments:
Post a Comment