AirAsia Search: First Body Identified From Flight QZ8501 Crash

             The identity of one of the bodies recovered at the wreckage site of AirAsia flight QZ8501 has been confirmed.

Indonesian officials informed the media today that the body was that of passenger Hayati Lutfiah Hamid.

Bernama reported East Java Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) centre head chief commissioner Budiyono as saying that the identification of Hayati was based on post-mortem result, thumbprint and her personal belongings.

"An identification card and a chain with the word 'Hayati' was retrieved with the victim and this was verified by the next of kin and family members," he told a media conference at the Crisis Centre, Bhayangkara Hospital, in Surabaya today.

He added that Hayati was one of two bodies recovered yesterday. The other was that of a man.

According to Bernama, Budiyono said the body of the man had yet to be identified, but said he had long hair, with a mole on left lip and about 145cm to 150cm tall.

Meanwhile, bad weather in waters near Pangkalan Bun, Kalimantan is affecting the search for the aircraft, which now entered its fifth day.

Indonesian Transportation Safety Committee member, Antonius Toos Sanitioso, expect the search to continue for at least another week due to the weather factor.

He said priority was to search for the Airbus A320 as it would then give an indication on the location of the aircraft's black box, Bernama reported.

So far, at least seven bodies have been recovered from waters near the suspected crash site, along with debris such as a suitcase, an emergency slide and a life jacket.

The bodies are being taken in numbered coffins to Surabaya, where relatives of the victims have gathered, for identification. Authorities have been collecting DNA from relatives to help identify the bodies.

"We are asking universities to work with us – from the whole country," said Anton Castilani, executive director at Indonesia's disaster victims identification committee.

Flight QZ8501 was carrying 162 people from Surabaya to Singapore, when it disappeared on Sunday morning.

Debris from the flight was located in the sea on Tuesday and search teams have begun recovering bodies of passengers and crew.

The flight was carrying 155 passengers on board, including 16 children and one infant, as well as seven crew members.

The passengers comprise 149 Indonesians, three South Koreans, one Singaporean, one Malaysian and one Briton.

The crew comprises six Indonesians and a French national, who is the First Officer.

No survivors have been found.