Some victims of crashed AirAsia plane to be autopsied for probe

SURABAYA, Indonesia - Autopsies will be performed on some of the bodies retrieved from the Java Sea off Indonesia's Central Kalimantan where an AirAsia plane with 162 people on board crashed on Sunday, experts and police said on Saturday.

The bodies of pilot, co-pilot and some passengers would be autopsied to support an investigation into the crash, head of the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) center Budiono said.

"Some of them will be autopsied to find out the cause of the accident," he said at the Police Hospital Bhayangkara in Surabaya, the provincial capital of East Java.

"We will conduct autopsy at least on bodies of the pilot, co- pilot and examples of passengers," with coordination with the police, family members and relatives, said Budiono.

One body has been autopsied, he revealed without giving details.

Chief of the East Java Police Inspector General Anas Yusuf said according to the rules of Interpol, local wisdom, such as keeping families ingnorance of the autopsy, has to be complied with.

"In the context of autopsy for investigation, we actually have a protocol, meaning that local wisdom has to be fulfilled," he said at the Police Hospital.

So far, at least 30 bodies have been pulled out from the Indonesian waters and 14 bodies were being identified by the DVI team in the hospital. At least 4 bodies have been identified and handed over to their families and relatives.