Body Parts Reportedly Found Near Site Of Russian Jet Crash

JAKARTA (Indonesia), May 29 (Bernama) -- A search-and-rescue team was rushed Tuesday to Gunung Salak in Bogor, western Java, following reports of discovery of body parts near where a Russian aircraft crashed on May 9. The team of soldiers, policemen, volunteers and local villagers would go straight to the site where the find was made Monday by people from Cicurug, Sukabumi, looking for forest products, said Colonel Putranto, military commander of Suryakencana Province in Bogor. He said it was hoped that the team would be able to remove the body parts and personal paraphernalia of the passengers of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 which crashed into the side of a volcano during a flight to impress potential buyers of the aircraft. All 45 people on board, among them local journalists, are feared dead. "We are working with the Keramat Jati Indonesian Police Hospital in Jakarta to identify the body parts," said Putranto, adding that he did not discount the possibility that the body parts and belongings of the passengers could have been dragged elsewhere by landslides triggered by heavy rain. Junaidi Abdullah, who heads the Sukabumi branch of an association of gatherers of non-wood forest products, said Monday some of the members reported coming across the body parts and belongings of the passengers about 500 to 700 metres from the crash site. The product gatherers had emerged from the jungle last Saturday and had brought along some of the identification documents to verify their find. The names on the documents matched those on the passenger manifest. -- BERNAMA