Millennium Post

More body parts found at Indonesian crash site

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JAKARTA: Indonesian search teams Tuesday recovered more remains at the site of a crashed Lion Air jet that plunged into the sea with 189 people aboard, as a report said it had suffered an instrument malfunctio­n the day before.

The Boeing-737 MAX, which went into service just months ago, crashed into the Java Sea moments after it had asked to return to Jakarta on Monday.

Flight JT 610 sped up as it suddenly lost altitude and then vanished from radar 13 minutes after take-off, with authoritie­s saying witnesses saw the jet plunge into the water.

Dozens of divers are taking part in the recovery effort.

Search teams have filled ten body bags with limbs and other human remains, Muhammad Syaugi, head of the Indonesian national search and rescue agency told Metro TV, saying they will be taken to Jakarta for identifica­tion and DNA testing.

The remains of a baby were among those found, according to national deputy police chief Ari Dono Sukmanto.

Another 14 bags filled with debris have also been collected.

Shoes, items of clothing and a wallet are among the items found.

"We hope we can see the plane's main body -- everything on the surface of the water has been collected," Syaugi said.

Indonesia's National Transporta­tion Safety Committee (NTSC) said there were 178 adult passengers, one child, two infants, two pilots and six cabin crew on board flight JT 610.

Among them were the plane's Indian captain, 20 Indonesian finance ministry employees and Andrea Manfredi, an Italian former profession­al cyclist. The search and rescue agency all but ruled out finding any survivors late Monday.

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