T

he joint search and rescue team tasked with recovering the bodies of AirAsia flight QZ8501 victims is running against time to locate the bodies, with a week having already passed since the aircraft crashed en route to Singapore from Surabaya.

As of Saturday, only 30 bodies had been recovered, 24 of which had yet to be identified.

Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) forensic pathologist Oktavinda Safitry said on Friday that after one-week, it would be more difficult to locate the bodies as they would start to sink to the bottom of the ocean.

'€œThe bodies float to the surface of the water due to decomposition, which produces gas, causing the bodies to bloat,'€ she told The Jakarta Post. '€œThe theory is that the bodies began to float three to four days [after the crash].'€

But the bodies will eventually sink again, Oktavinda said.

'€œThey might start to sink either on Saturday or on Sunday,'€ she said.

However, Oktavinda said that some of the bodies might be stuck inside the aircraft wreckage.

Besides the seven-day floating period, there is also concern that the decomposition of bodies could make it harder to identify them.

East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Anas Yusuf said on Friday that the Disaster and Victim Identification (DVI) team had experienced difficulties in identifying some of the bodies due to the bodies being fragmented.

'€œIn terms of difficulties, such as bodies being fragmented, we could not identify them by [their] fingerprints. [Therefore], we [analyzed] DNA,'€ he said.

Oktavinda said the fact that the bodies were in the water further increased difficulties.

'€œFingerprints might disappear in the water but we can carry out dental and DNA exams,'€ she said.

However, dental examinations might also fail due to decomposition, Oktavinda said.

'€œTeeth are relatively strong but we are worried that when the bodies have decomposed, teeth might detach,'€ she said.

Health Minister Nila F. Moeloek said that the DVI team might have to rely more on dental and DNA exams rather than fingerprint identification.

DVI team member Budi Sampurna from the University of Indonesia said dental DNA exams were the most reliable methods of identification as both teeth and DNA did not deteriorate easily.

'€œDNA in dead bodies can remain intact for a 100 years, depending on the condition of the bodies,'€ he said.

On Saturday, two more bodies were identified by the East Java Police'€™s DVI unit.

The two victims were identified as Themeji Theja Kusuma, 44, and Hendra Gunawan Syawal, 23,'€ the team'€™s head, Comr. Sr. Budiyono, told a press conference in Surabaya.

THe DVI team identified earlier Hayati Lutfiah Hamid, Grayson Herbert Linaksita, Khairunisa Haidar Fauzi and Kevin Alexander Soetjipto.