By Ainur Rohmah
JAKARTA, Indonesia
The search for the remaining bodies from an AirAsia jet that crashed in the Java Sea is expected to come to an end Sunday, according to a national rescue agency official.
Since flight QZ 8501 disappeared Dec. 28 with 162 people on board just 106 bodies have been found, three of them discovered in the Karimata Strait on Saturday
"The operation will probably end Sunday," Yusuf Latif, a spokesman for the search and rescue agency told The Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.
He added that Bambang Soelistyo - the head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) - is expected to officially close the operation at a ceremonial event at Pangkalan Bun in Central Sulawesi on Sunday.
Pangkalan Bun's main airport Iskandar was used as an operation center to support search operations.
"We will also give a reward for every party who has contributed to the search and rescue operation," said Latif.
While some search ships and personnel have already moved from the area, some will remain on standby.
East Java Police spokesperson, Awi Setiyono, told AA that so far a total of 114 bodies - or body parts - have been sent by Basarnas to Bhayangkara Hospital in Surabaya, for further identification.
He added that seven sets of bones found in the plane's fuselage were undergoing DNA analysis at the National Police Headquarters.
Most bodies were recovered in and around the wreckage, although some were discovered as far as 1,000km away.
One set of bones, however, has been ascertained not to be human. The body of a monkey was found by fisherman in the search area and accidentally sent to Surabaya for identification.
Radar data has showed the plane climbing at an abnormally high rate, a sign that it may have been attempting to fly above a storm.
The pilot's last contact was a request to divert around bad weather. The plane's two "black box" flight recorders revealed several "screaming" alarms that drowned out the sound of the pilots’ voices.
