Bahorok, North Sumatra (ANTARA News) - The search and rescue team personnel here on Sunday started evacuating 18 bodies who become the victims of Casa 212-200 plane that crashed in Bahorok sub-district, North Sumatra last Thursday.

Six ambulance cars were prepared to carry the bodies from the crashed plane area to the Adam Malik hospital in Medan city, ANTARA News learned at the team`s temporary shelter in Bahorok sub-district on Sunday.

In regard to the evacuation process, the bodies were taken one by one from the crash location in the mountainous area by using chopper to the Turangi open field.

Then, ambulance took the bodies to Adam Malik hospital. Six choppers were prepared for the evacuation process.

Representative from Medan city`s search and rescue team M Agus Wibisono said the smoothness of evacuation process would depend on the weather. If the weather was good, he said, the process would be finished in a day.

All the 14 passengers and four crew members of the Cassa 212-200 plane that crashed in a forest of Bahorok region in Langkat district, North Sumatra, last Thursday were found dead on Saturday (Oct 1), a rescue official said.

"Based on information received from the field, all the people on board the plane, including the pilot and co-pilot were killed," Chief of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Daryatmo said.

All of the dead bodies were found in their respective seats, he said.

The plane`s doors were also found in locked condition, meaning that none of the passengers and crew members had moved to try to leave the aircraft, he said.

However, he stopped short of revealing the cause of the passengers` death. "We do not know whether they died because of the impact of the crash or because of other matters," he said.

The plane took off from Polonia airport in Medan, capital of North Sumatra province, at 7.28 a.m and was supposed to arrive at Kutacane in Aceh at 8.03 a.m. on Thursday.
(T.ANT-197/A051/B003)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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