REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Chief of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Bambang Soelistyo Tuesday appreciated all foreign countries that helped with evacuation efforts following AirAsia flight QZ8501's crash in Kalimantan island waters on Dec 28, 2014.

According to Bambang, Basarnas spent Rp570 million on QZ8501's evacuation process. The amount is quite minimal as Indonesia received ample assistance with the evacuation process from many countries; so, Basarnas did not require any major financial aid from the Indonesian government.

"We are thankful for the foreign ships that helped us in the search and evacuation process," he said.

AirAsia flight QZ8501 disappeared on December 28 en route from Surabaya in East Java to Singapore with 162 people on board. They comprised 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, a Briton, a Singaporean, a French, and a Malaysian.

The plane crashed in the Java Sea near the Karimata Strait, some 95 nautical miles from Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan.

Basarnas had coordinated all the search operations, which involved the military, police, and Transportation Ministry, besides several teams from foreign countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, the United States, Japan, China, South Korea, India, and Russia.

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