All 189 people on board the ill-fated Indonesian Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane, which crashed in the sea on Monday, have "likely" died, search and rescue officials announced.
"I predict there are no survivors, based on body parts found so far," the chief of the nation's search and rescue agency, Bambang Suryo, said. The chilling forecast came out as the operation to locate and recover the wreckage continues.
The packed Lion Air flight JT610 lost contact with ground control 13 minutes after takeoff in Jakarta. Debris from the aircraft as well as passengers' personal belongings were located floating in the Java Sea, as a massive rescue team was deployed to the crash site.
The first-response team has been sweeping the area with divers and ROVs. The rescuers managed to recover a number of bodies and body parts from the water. The images, posted by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency, show body bags transported from the crash site. Oxygen tanks, women's handbags and wallets, all in bad condition, were also found among the debris, the officials reported.
"Debris and 6 bags of pieces of the victims have already arrived in the port of tanjung priuk"
If indeed no survivors are found, this would be the second-deadliest commercial aviation incident in Indonesian history. In 1997, an Airbus A300B4, operated by Garuda Indonesia, crashed into mountainous terrain, killing all 234 people on board.
The aircraft was brand new and considered among the most advanced planes in the airline's fleet, as were the first Boeing 737 MAX 8s that were delivered to Lion Air a little more than a year ago.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said that the authorities are doing everything they can "to locate the victims." He ordered the National Commission for Transportation Safety to launch a probe into the crash.
Tensions have been growing intense between those traveling on the caravan. Some of the illegal immigrants have relied on hitchhiking to travel between towns instead of walking the entire way. Part of the problem: as soon as seats become available, abled-body men rush to those vehicles, leaving women and children to walk.
A local nun scolded the men for their actions. She also said her church arranged for five vehicles to transport only women and children to their next stop in Niltepec, about 33 miles away.
A few people disagreed with the nun's assessment.
"To me it's bad because there has to be equality because we are all struggling on this path," Hector Alvarado, 25, told NBC News.
Rosa Bonilla, who is a single mother traveling with an almost 2-year-old and a 10-year-old disagreed that men shouldn't be allowed on the vehicles. She believes husbands should be allowed on the van as well because they help protect the women and children.
"If we go alone anything could happen," Bonilla said.
The Mexican government seems to be in limbo, trying to decide whether or not they should help the caravan's travelers press on or stop them from heading towards the United States. On Saturday, the Mexican government stepped in to help caravan riders for the first time. Grupo Beta, Mexico's immigrant protection agency, gave rides to those falling behind and passed out water, The Washington Post reported.
To try and force more caravan riders to apply for asylum, around a hundred federal police dressed in riot gear blocked a rural highway in southern Mexico. Police eventually let the caravan continue after Mexico's National Human Rights Commission reminded them that the stretch of highway, which lacked shade, water and restrooms, was not safe for the illegal immigrants.
The caravan still has 1,000 miles to go if they go through the McAllen, Texas point of entry. If they change routes and head towards San Diego, they're looking at another 2,000 miles.
I'm at the scene where a woman blew herself up in central Tunis. Initial reports suggest six police officers were killed. pic.twitter.com/HWxLevXGvtWitness Mohamed Ekbal bin Rajib told Reuters that he was "in front of the theater and heard a huge explosion and saw people fleeing." Ambulances also could be heard rushing to the scene.
- Anelise Borges (@AnneliseBorges) October 29, 2018
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