Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday extended his deepest condolences to the families of the victims who lost their lives in the crash of Sriwijaya Air plane, stating that India stands with Indonesia during this hour of grief.
"Deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the unfortunate plane crash in Indonesia," Prime Minister Modi wrote in a tweet.
He added, "India stands with Indonesia in this hour of grief."
The plane lost contact soon after the takeoff, has crashed in water not far from Jakarta on Saturday, Xinhua reported citing local TV.
Indonesia's Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi on Saturday said that there were 65 people aboard the crashed Sriwijaya Air plane. The minister confirmed that the Boeing 737-500, domestic flight SJY182, was carrying 53 passengers and 12 crew members in total when it took off from Jakarta.
Jakarta airport controllers lost contact with the plane at 14:40 local time (07:40 GMT) on Saturday, minutes after its takeoff from the capital, according to Sputnik.
According to the Flightradar24 air service, the plane lost more than 10,000 feet of altitude in less than 60 seconds and four minutes after the departure.
Indonesian divers on Sunday located parts of the wreckage of a Boeing 737-500 at a depth of 23 metres (75 feet) in the Java Sea, a day after the aircraft, with 62 people on board, crashed shortly after takeoff from Jakarta.
Five bags of human body parts and three bags of debris were collected by search and rescue officials on Sunday from the waters off the Indonesian capital of Jakarta where a Sriwijaya Air plane crashed the previous day shortly after take-off
"We received three bags containing the debris of the plane and five bags of human body parts," Operation Director of the National Search and Rescue Agency Rasman M.S. said.
All the eight bags were carried by the navy's KRI Kurau ship, according to the director.
This has brought the total body parts discovered by the rescuers to seven, reports Xinhua news agency.
Earlier in the day, Indonesian military chief Hadi Tjahjanto said naval ship KRI Rigela equipped with a remote-operated vehicle, which arrived at the search location at 3 a.m., detected the signal possibly from the aircraft.
"Based on the results of monitoring, and according to the coordinates given from the last contact, it is strongly suspected that there was a signal from the plane," he said.
President Joko Widodo on Sunday expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, saying at a press conference: "I am on behalf of the government and all the Indonesian people to express my deep condolences over this tragedy."
The last plane crash in Indonesia took place in October 2018 when a Lion Air flight plunged into the sea about 12 minutes after take-off from Jakarta.
(With inputs from agencies)
