Two big parts of crashed AirAsia plane found at sea bed

Rescuers have discovered two big objects considered to be parts of the crashed AirAsia plane at sea bed in Indonesian waters, rescuer said here on Saturday.

Head of Indonesian National Search and Rescue Office F. Henry Bambang Sulistyo said that the two objects, measuring 9.2 meters long and 4.6 meters wide, and 7.2 meters long and 0.5 meters wide, respectively, were found at the depth of 30 meters and their locations are close to each other.

He confirmed that the two big objects are parts of the crashed AirAsia plane that they have been searching for.

Sulistyo disclosed that an amount of oil found on Friday at the surface of the waters where the objects were discovered and a signal was also found near the areas, and the two objects were found after rescuer ships searched with sonar system.

The head of the rescuers said that divers from Indonesia and other countries would dive into the location where the objects were found.

"Our priority is to find and evacuate victims," said Sulistyo.

Besides, he said that the rescuers would dispatch remotely operated vehicles to the sea bed to take pictures of the objects.

However, huge waves are hampering the effort now, said Sulistyo.

"Now, the obstacle is big waves, they are still strong," he said.

The ill-fated Singapore-bound AirAsia QZ8501 flight that departed from Indonesia's Surabaya carried 155 passengers and seven crews.

So far 30 bodies have been found in Indonesian waters where the AirAsia plane crashed on Sunday.

A senior official at Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency ( BASARNAS) said earlier Saturday that searching area to find debris and bodies from the crashed Air Asia plane has been expanded eastwards, anticipating that the debris and bodies have already drifted away from the identified crash site.

BASARNAS Operation and Training Director SB Supriyadi said the searching in the seventh day since the plane was crashed would involve 60 ships, 8 planes and 4 helicopters from several countries.