Lion Air Crash: President Jokowi Inspects Evacuation Post in Tanjung Priok

President Jokowi inspects personal goods at Lion Air JT-610 evacuation post at JICT 2, Tanjung Priok, Jakarta, Tuesday (30/10). (Photo by: BPMI)

In the wake of Lion Air flight JT-610 crash, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Tuesday inspected the evacuation command post at the Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) 2 in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.

The President also saw firsthand the findings of the evacuation process near the crash site including the aircraft’s debris and goods presumed to belong to the passengers of the ill-fated plane.

President Jokowi added that the Government is coordinating with a joint search and evacuation team concerning the latest progress of the efforts to find the airplane’s fuselage, the black box, and the passengers.

To date, the joint team has submitted a number of personal goods and plane debris to the National Police Disaster Victims Identification (DVI) team for identification purposes

Regarding the airplane’s fuselage, Head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (BNPP)  M. Syaugi said that his agency continues to conduct the search and evacuation process. “As of this afternoon, we have not been able to locate the fuselage. We are deploying dozens of ships. We are also carrying out both air and underwater searches in areas around the plane’s last contact coordinates,” Syaugi was quoted as saying by the BNPP press release.

Syaugi added that the team has also deployed four ships equipped with underwater detection equipment to search at the first point (of the crash) and a number of divers from the Basarnas Special Group, the Navy’s elite Frogmen Command (Kopaska), and other units. At the second point, more than 30 ships and helicopters were deployed to conduct search from the air, he said.

The downed Lion Air plane was bound for Depati Amir Airport in Pangkalpinang, Bangka Belitung Islands, from Jakarta before it crashed into the Java Sea on Monday morning. The plane was carrying 189 people, comprising 181 passengers, two pilots, and six crew members.

Joining the President during the inspection were Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi, Head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (BNPP, formerly known as Basarnas) M. Syaugi, Chairperson of National Transportation Safety Committee Soerjanto, and Commander of Fleet I Command Yudo Margono. (BPMI Presidential Secretariat/ES).

Translated by: Muhardi                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Edited by: M. Ersan Pamungkas