104 body bags found near Indonesian plane crash site

By Dandy Koswaraputra and Rhany Chairunissa Rufinaldo

JAKARTA

Indonesian rescue agency found 104 body bags during the search of the Lion Air JT-610 victims on Friday, it announced on Saturday.

According to a statement issued by the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), 27 bodies were also recovered on Friday near the location of the plane crash and Tanjung Pakis waters.

On Oct. 29, Lion Air flight JT 610 was traveling from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang when it crashed into the Java Sea on Monday. All 188 people on board are presumed dead.

"The search and rescue (SAR) team also managed to find aircraft tires, aircraft skin fragments, aircraft engines, and other parts of the aircraft," said Maj. Gen. Nugroho Budi Wiryanto, the operations deputy of Basarnas, said at a news conference in the capital Jakarta.

He said Basarnas together with all stakeholders will conduct a comprehensive evaluation before deciding whether they should continue the search and rescue operations.

Lion Air is one of Indonesia's biggest airlines, flying to dozens of domestic and international destinations.