Iranian President Sympathizes with Indonesia over AirAsia Plane Crash
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expressed condolences to the Indonesian nation over the crash of an AirAsia flight, in which scores of people lost their lives.
In a message to Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Tuesday, Rouhani offered his sympathy to the Indonesian people and government over the tragic incident, which killed mostly Indonesian nationals.
“On behalf of the Iranian government and people, I would like to extend my condolences to Your Excellency, the Indonesian government and people, particularly the bereaved families of the victims over the tragic incident,” Rouhani stated.
Indonesia AirAsia's Flight QZ8501, an Airbus A320-200 carrying 162 people, lost contact with air traffic control early on Sunday during bad weather on a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
The navy initially said 40 bodies had been recovered, although other media later quoted the head of the search and rescue agency, Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, as saying only three bodies had been retrieved. The plane has yet to be found, according to Reuters.
About 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States have been involved in the search operation for the missing plane.
