REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - The Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) unit of the police has summoned a number of family members of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 victims to Said Sukanto National Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, Jakarta, to help in the victim identification process. The unit will attempt to match the family members` DNA data with that of the bodies found at the crash site in Mount Salak, West Java. 

"The victims` families have been summoned to obtain some fingerprint, DNA and teeth samples, and this process is not yet complete," the chief of the hospital`s medical and health division Mussadeq Ishaq told reporters on Thursday.

According to Ishaq, the families have been summoned to enrich the incomplete data stored in the DVI unit`s data base. "After this, the DVI team can do its job optimally, with almost 100 percent correct results," he remarked.

As of Thursday morning, Ishaq noted, the unit had received as many as 35 body bags containing the remains of the ill-fated plane crash victims. "We have received a total of 35 body bags -30 of them contain the victims` body parts, while the other five contain the victims` property," he said.

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 jetliner slammed into the dormant volcano at nearly 800 kph (480 mph) during a light rain. Russian and French officials have now joined the investigation into the cause of the disaster.

The ill-fated Superjet was carrying representatives from local airlines and journalists on what was supposed to be a 50-minute demonstration flight. Barely 21 minutes after the plane took off from a Jakarta airfield, its Russian pilot and co-pilot asked for permission to drop from 10,000 feet to 6,000 feet; the plane disappeared from the radar immediately afterwards. 

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