Indonesian jet with 189 crashes

All feared dead as plane plunges into sea

JAKARTA: All 189 passengers and crew aboard a crashed Indonesian Lion Air jet were likely killed in the accident, rescue officials said on Monday, as they announced they had found human remains and would continue the grim search through the night.

The Boeing-737 MAX, which went into service just months ago, vanished from radar 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta, plunging into the Java Sea moments after it had asked to return to the Indonesian capital.

Websites that display flight data showed the plane speeding up as it suddenly lost altitude in the minutes before it disappeared, with authorities saying witnesses saw the jet plunge into the water.

CONDOLENCES

President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has

sent a cable of condolences to President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, for the victims of the Lion Air passenger jet which crashed in Indonesian waters on Monday.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, sent similar cables to the Indonesian President.

“My prediction is that nobody survived because the victims that we found, their bodies were no longer intact and it’s been hours so it is likely 189 people have died,” search and rescue agency operational director Bambang Suryo Aji told reporters.