Jakarta Globe, Mar 22, 2015
Victims of the AirAsia QZ8501 accident were commemorated in Central Kalimantan on Sunday. (Antara Foto/Zabur Karuru) |
Jakarta.
Family members who lost loved when AirAsia Flight QZ8501 plunged into the Java
Sea in December last year gathered for a remembrance ceremony at Kumai Bay in
Central Kalimantan on Sunday.
Tears and
tributes flowed as people remembered those onboard the Airbus A320-200, which
vanished from radar screens on Dec. 28, less than halfway into a two-hour
flight from Surabaya to Singapore. All 162 people onboard died.
The search
for the victims bodies was finally called off on Tuesday and Sunday’s event
served as a final send off from AirAsia Indonesia and the National Search and
Rescue Agency (Basarnas).
Basarnas
chief Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo led a military ceremony before the group,
which also included military officers and AirAsia Indonesia staff.
The
commemoration continued with a scattering of flower petals and a prayer
session. A traditional ceremony called Tepuk Tepung Tawar, which is meant to
ward off bad luck, followed.
“I’ve fully
accepted this. I pray that my daughter finds peace with God,” said Rohana,
mother of Khairunnisa Haidar Fauzi, one of the stewardesses on the flight.
“This memorial means a lot to me. I’m very thankful to Basarnas for having
found my daughter’s body.”
Sunu
Widyatmoko, president director of AirAsia Indonesia, said the memorial showed
the airline’s concern and sympathy tow the vitims’ families.
“We’re
distraught that we have been unable to find all the bodies from the
accident,”Sunu said. “This marks the end of our search effort with Basarnas.”
A total of
56 bodies are still missing.
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