Indonesia abandons attempts to lift QZ8501 fuselage
Attempts to raise the fuselage of AirAsia flight QZ8501 have been suspended after no more bodies were discovered inside.
Teams from the Indonesian military had spent three days, in stormy weather, trying to pull up the fuselage with an inflatable lifting bag, hoping that they would find bodies of some of the missing passengers.
An effort to lift a smaller piece of wreckage also failed, the military said.
Officials say lifting the wreckage is not a priority because it is too fragile and they now believe no victims remain inside.
It was also revealed 19 of the 81 navy divers working underwater have fallen ill with decompression sickness.
"I told them safety first but as we know, they are always working hard to find the bodies," said Rear Admiral Widodo.
"They are not thinking about safety but about doing their duty."
Flight QZ8501 was flying from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore on December 28 when it crashed into the Java Sea.
There were 162 passengers and crew on board, but so far only 70 bodies have been found.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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