REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The search and rescue team has spotted an oil spill from Air Asia QZ8501, which crashed into the waters off the Karimata Strait in Central Kalimantan on Sunday.

"We have seen the oil spill there," chief of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), Rear Marshal F Henry Bambang Soelistyo, said here on Friday (2/1).

The location of the oil spill is in the main search and evacuation sector in the Karimata Strait, where debris and several bodies have been found.

Soelistyo said that as of Friday, 30 bodies have been found and evacuated.

"Until now, the number of bodies found has reached 30 and the process of sending 10 of them to Surabaya is in progress, while four others have been kept in Pangkalan Bun," he said here on Friday.

Seven bodies are being held in KRI Bung Tomo and another is aboard the Malaysian ship KD Pahang.

Eight bodies have already been taken to Surabaya in East Java for identification, he noted.

Soelistyo remarked that the personnel of Basarnas were fighting bad weather and high waves as they seek to move eight bodies from KRI Bung Tomo and KD Pahang to Pangkalan Bun.

"Until this moment, they have not been able to work due to severe weather conditions and high waves," he noted.

According to Soelistyo, all bodies were found in the priority sector that was set for the search operation. Besides finding the bodies of victims, joint search and rescue teams have also found debris from the aircraft and other objects.

Air Asia flight QZ8501, carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members, lost contact with air traffic control while flying above the Java Sea from Surabaya to Singapore on Sunday morning.

Efforts are currently underway to find the plane's fuselage and black boxes to help establish the cause of its crash.

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