JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): Lion Air operational director Daniel Putut said on Tuesday evening that Lion Air was ready to take responsibility for the victims of Monday’s plane crash.
He said during his visit to Kramatjati Police Hospital in East Jakarta that Lion Air had collected the data of 209 relatives of the victims and he promised to continue to provide them with up-to-date information.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said at the same press conference that Lion Air had provided "friendly and good assistance" to the families of the plane crash victims.
The company has also cooperated with the National Police to provide psychological support, he said. He visited the hospital to check the progress of victim identification carried by police forensics and DNA experts.
Earlier in a statement, Lion Air said it had provided flights to Jakarta for hundreds of family members of crew and passengers of flight JT610, which crashed into the Java Sea on Monday morning.
The family members comprise 168 people from Pangkalpinang in Bangka Belitung Islands, three from Medan in North Sumatra, two from Padang in West Sumatra, four from Yogyakarta, two from Madiun in East Java and four others from Demak in Central Java.
Lion Air corporate communications strategic officer Danang Mandala Prihantoro said that some family members had arrived at the Police Hospital where the bodies of victims were to be identified.
"Lion Air has also prepared and provided psychological support for the families at the JT610 [crisis] center," Danang said in a statement on Tuesday.
Following the incident, Lion Air has set up a crisis center at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta where relatives and loved ones of the victims on board the flight can receive information.
The Lion Air flight carried 189 people —comprising 178 adult passengers, three minors, two pilots and six crew members on Monday morning and was scheduled to land at Depati Amir Airport in Pangkalpinang at 7:10 a.m. on Monday.
Air traffic control at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport lost contact with the flight shortly after it took off at 6:20 a.m. The plane reportedly crashed 7 nautical miles north of Tanjung Bungin in Karawang, West Java. – The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network
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