REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Bad weather and high waves impeded the search and rescue operation, and evacuation process of the missing AirAsia plane in the Karimata Strait near Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, a rescue worker said.
"Tomorrow, we will conduct evacuation process. The recent obstacles are the waves reaching two until three meters in height and bad weather," Chief of the National Search and Rescue Agency F.H. Bambang Soelistyo told a press conference here Tuesday (30/12).
A number aircraft and helicopters supporting the search and rescue operation could not be operated due to the bad weather over the area where the debris was found, Soelistyo said.
Indonesian Navy War Ship KRI Banda Aceh is expected to arrive in the area where the debris was found on Tuesday evening.
The navy vessel will be assisted with some other ships to locate other debris and bodies of the passengers possibly discovered during the night operation.
Soelistyo has earlier confirmed that the debris found in Karimata Strait definitely belongs to AirAsia Flight QZ8501.
"I can confirm now that 100 percent of the debris belongs to the missing AirAsia aircraft," he said.
Among the things that the search team members discovered in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, were parts of the aircraft and a blue luggage, he said.
Three bodies of two women and one man were also evacuated to Indonesian Navy Ship KRI Bung Tomo, Soelistyo confirmed.
On the meantime, President Joko Widodo has arrived in the East Java city of Surabaya to visit families of the ill-fated aircraft's passengers.
"We will focus first on the evacuation process," he said.
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