IDNEWSNOW.COM, Jakarta – Tanjung Priok Port Police have set up a humanitarian command post at the seaport’s Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) II Pier, North Jakarta, for a Sriwijaya Air plane believed to have crashed on Saturday in the waters off Laki Island, Thousand Islands (Pulau Seribu) District, not long after taking off from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
“Yes, that’s right, we have opened a post at JICT II Pier,” Adjunct Senior Commissioner Ahrie Sonta, Head of the Tanjung Priok Port Police, confirmed on Saturday afternoon.
Previously, Pulau Seribu District Head Junaedi said the Sriwijaya Air plane crashed near Laki Island, Tidung Island Village, after its last contact with air traffic authorities on Saturday at approximately 2: 40 p.m. local time.
“Based on information from local fishermen, they saw an object falling into the sea off Lancang Island and Laki Island. The rumbling from the plane crash was felt at the settlement area on Lancang Island,” Junaedi was quoted as saying by the Thousand Islands Communication, Informatics and Statistics Office.
He said he was informed that the plane allegedly crashed at around 2: 30 p.m. local time.
Following the information, a joint team from the Pari Island officers, search and rescue office, fire brigade, and assisted by local fishermen, conducted search efforts around Lancang Island and Laki Island waters.
Meanwhile, relatives of the ill-fated Sriwijaya Air SJ182’s passengers flocked to Soekarno -Hatta International Airport to obtain first hand information about their loved ones aboard the plane, which lost contact not long after taking off from the airport on its way to Pontianak, West Kalimantan.
Also Read: Red Cross Readies Staff to Help Search for Missing Sriwijaya Air Plane
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