Residents claim to have found more remains of Sukhoi victims

Several Sukabumi residents claimed Monday to have found more remains and ID cards allegedly belonging to the victims of the ill-fated Russian-made aircraft, which slammed into hill on Mt. Salak in West Java on May 9.

The 13 residents, who are members of the Sukabumi-branch of the Non-Timber Forest Products Society (AMPHHBKI), discovered the remains around 500 to 700 meters from the crash site during their one-week stay in the area from May 20, team leader Junaidi Abdullah told Antara.

"We also discovered an intact human body,” Junaidi said Monday, adding that the group’s stay was part of their regular routine.

The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) officially ended its search and evacuation of victims on May 22 after it had gathered the remains of all 45 people who were killed during the incident.

According to Junaidi, his group spotted body parts on the first day of their stay on the hills of Mt. Salak.

On Thursday, they discovered an intact human body along with several identity cards.

“The body was covered with soil and was swollen. We thought it was one of the Russian crew members, judging from its physical traits," he said.

He added that the group did not evacuate the remains but instead collected the ID cards and took some pictures as evidence.

The names written on the ID cards included Anton Daryanto, Herman Suladzi, Edie Satriyo, Capt. Avirianto, Tirta Hidayat and Darmayanti Lubis.

Some of the names were not included on the official victim’s list.

Separately, Bogor’s Surya Kencana Military Regional Command chief, Col. A.M. Putranto, who helped oversee the evacuation process, said that his team was still investigating the claim.  (asa/swd)