Sultan Imanuddin Hospital On Alert To Receive AirAsia Victims' Bodies

Pangkalan Bun, C Kalimantan, Jan 8 (Antara) - The Sultan Imanuddin Regional General Hospital (RSUD) authorities are on standby to receive bodies of the AirAsia Flight QZ8501 victims, which were earlier identified and sent to Surabaya. "We do not know about the time. We just follow the operation of a joint team. During that time, we remain alert to receive the bodies of the AirAsia victims," Director of Sultan Imanuddin Regional General Hospital Suyuti Syamsul stated here on Thursday. During the last two days, the number of bodies being moved to the hospital has decreased. However, the entire team comprising the joint evacuation team, DVI team, ambulance drivers, religious leaders, and janitors remained on alert in a bid to receive the bodies of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 victims. A cold storage is being operated to store the bodies at 20 degrees Celsius. The officers worked round-the-clock to receive the bodies. They gathered at the posts, which were established in an open area or the hospital's yards. AirAsia Airbus A320-200 carrying 162 people went missing on Sunday (December 28) morning after losing contact with air traffic control on its way from Surabaya, East Java, to Singapore. AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 lost contact after the pilot requested to climb to 38 thousand feet from 32 thousand feet to avoid rough weather over the sea between Bangka Belitung and West Kalimantan. The aircraft was carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members. It took off from the Juanda International Airport in Surabaya at 5.36 a.m. local time and lost contact with the Jakarta air traffic control at 6.17 a.m. local time. The plane, piloted by Captain Iriyanto and First Officer (FO) Remi Emmanuel Plesel, was scheduled to arrive in Singapore at 8.30 a.m. local time. There were seven foreign nationals among the passengers, including the French FO, three Koreans, a Singaporean, a Briton, and a Malaysian. Earlier, insurance claims for the hull and engines of AirAsia flight QZ8501 will still be paid, despite the license being declared invalid by the Ministry of Transportation. The flight, traveling the Surabaya-Singapore route, went missing on December 28. Insurance claims for the AirAsia aircraft includes compensation offsets purchased by AirAsia from PT. Asuransi Jasa Indonesia (Jasindo) and PT. Asuransi Sinar Mas, the OJK commissioner overseeing the non-banking financial industry, Firdaus Djaelani, revealed here on Tuesday. "We do not know about the insurance value of the aircraft's hull. It could be worth US$50 million. It will be paid by the insurance company," he stated. According to OJK's analysis of the AirAsia insurance claims, there are no exceptions regarding changes in flight schedules. Therefore, Djaelani explained that the violations related to the departure were not included in the exceptions mentioned in the claims. In the insurance policy purchased by AirAsia, insurance companies Jasindo and Sinar Mas agreed to pay the value of losses incurred, including those related to the engines and hull of the aircraft, the passengers, and third parties (both goods and people), Djaelani explained. While Jasindo was the insurance company to bear the insurance claims of AirAsia QZ8501, Sinar Mas was the co-insurer of AirAsia QZ8501.