REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PALU -- A search and rescue (SAR) team has discovered a human leg in the waters of Majene, West Sulawesi, believed to belong to one of the passengers of AirAsia QZ8501 that crashed recently.

Head of the National SAR Agency chapter in Palu, Jafar Henaulun, said here on Wednesday fishermen discovered the body part on Tuesday and immediately handed it over to the local authorities concerned.

The leg has swelled and so it was difficult to identify if it belongs to a male or a female person, he said.

Jafar said the leg part has been given to the SAR post in Majene to be immediately brought to Surabaya for identification purpose.

He said he could not confirm if it belonged to one of the passengers of the AirAsia QZ8501 that crashed while flying from Surabaya in East Java to Singapore recently.

"Let the forensic team identified it," he added.

He said fishermen in Majene had often found body parts of human bones caught in their fishing nets and handed them to the nearest authorities concerned.

So far two bodies believed to be those of the victims of the ill-fate plane have been discovered in the Sulawesi waters in addition to wreckage of the aircraft that sank in the Karimata Strait.

The SAR team in Palu has been requested by the National SAR Agency in Jakarta to help find AirAsia victims that have not yet been found so far along with teams in Balikpapan and Makassar.

"It happens that our location is close to Majene waters that the SAR office in Makassar and so we have been asked to help in the search efforts," he said.

Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika