The hope of finding survivors is dwindling

Rescue has almost no hope of finding survivors. The 189 people aboard a Lion Air Boeing 737 that crashed off the Indonesian coast on Monday morning are "probably dead," they said.

The aircraft of the Indonesian company, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 entered service in August, disappeared from radar 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta. The plane bound for Pangkal Pinang, a town on Bangka Island off Sumatra, lost contact with the air traffic control at around 6:30 am (0:30 am French time) and the aircraft plunged into the Java Sea. The airline admitted having made repairs on the aircraft the days before its last flight, without specifying their nature.

Rescuers have found "human remains" and "it is likely that the 189 people (on board) are dead," said the operational director of Indonesian Rescue Services, Bambang Suryo Aji, during a press briefing. Some 150 rescuers, including some 40 divers, were deployed to the crash site on Monday to find victims and remains of the aircraft at a depth of 30 to 40 meters. They will continue their research in the night, he said.

Black boxes have not been found yet

Nine bags with human remains were transported to a police-run hospital. Rescuers also found debris, including a piece of the aircraft's tail with the Lion Air logo, clothing, IDs, but no black box, indicated relief.

The plane was carrying a total of 189 people, according to the National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC): 178 adult pbadengers, one child, two babies, two pilots and six cabin crew. At Pangkal Pinang Airport, images showed heart-wrenching scenes of families of pbadengers crying and hugging each other for comfort.

A former Italian cyclist among the pbadengers

Contacted by phone, Ermayati mourns her 45-year-old husband Muhammed Syafii who was on board: "This morning he called to get news of his youngest son," and this was the last contact, she laments. At Jakarta airport, Zainal Abidin is desperate for news of her daughter: "If my daughter is dead, I only hope that she will be buried properly," she told AFP.

Former Italian cyclist Andrea Manfredi, 26, was among the pbadengers of the flight, said the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He leaves "the memory of a man in love with his sport", said in a statement his former team, Bardiani CSF.

More than 11,000 flight hours

The Flightradar flight tracking site shows on a map the trajectory of the aircraft which, after taking off on a southwesterly heading, veers substantially 180 degrees south before heading north-east. But the route suddenly stops above the Java Sea, not far from the coast.

The airline indicated that the pilot and co-pilot had more than 11,000 flying hours between them. Boeing, who delivered the aircraft, said he was "deeply distressed," in a statement. The aircraft manufacturer said it was "ready to provide technical badistance to the investigation of the accident".