UPDATES WITH ONE BODY FOUND; CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE
By Islamuddin Sajid and Berk Kutay Gokmen
ISLAMABAD/ISTANBUL (AA) - Indonesia on Sunday located the first body of a victim from a plane that went missing Saturday, state news agency ANTARA reported.
Rescue personnel found debris from the plane earlier Sunday, which was carrying eight crew members and three passengers.
The Indonesian Air Force said it deployed a team after the crash site was identified in the Mount Bulusaraung area of South Sulawesi.
The ATR 42-500 aircraft, operated by Indonesia Air Transport, lost contact Saturday in the Maros district of South Sulawesi province. It was en route from Yogyakarta to Makassar.
"This afternoon, a male victim was found in a ravine approximately 200 meters deep, surrounded by aircraft debris. The evacuation process is currently underway," said Arif Anwar, the head of Makassar Basarnas Office.
Anwar said the search and rescue team has been dealing with heavy rainfall and dense fog, reducing visibility at the summit to roughly five meters.
He stressed that the operation is ongoing, with a strong focus on personnel safety and coordination among all units as they continue searching for the 10 victims who remain missing.
“Following up on the findings, the Indonesian Air Force immediately deployed five soldiers from the Rapid Response Force Corps (Korpasgat) and one personnel from Basarnas (the National Search and Rescue Agency) using an H225M Caracal helicopter to the location,” said the head of the Indonesian Air Force Information Service, Air Marshal I Nyoman Suadnyana.
He added that Korpasgat personnel began preparing initial evacuation measures after arriving at the site.