AirAsia incident: Singapore offers condolences to Indonesia

 Singapore President Tony Tan Yam and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sent their condolences to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and the families of AirAsia QZ8501 crash victims on Wednesday.

"On behalf of the people of Singapore, I extend deep condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones," President Tan was quoted as saying in his letter by channelnewsasia.com.

President Tan expressed Singapores commitment to cooperating with Indonesia in its recovery efforts.

In a separate letter, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also expressed his condolences saying Singapore will support Indonesia in its recovery operations.

"Singapore will remain in solidarity with Indonesia in dealing with difficult times," he noted.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Tao Chee Hean, Foreign Minister K Shanmugam and Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew also expressed their condolences.

Indonesias National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) confirmed on Tuesday the discovery of the debris of QZ8501 that lost contact with the air traffic control on Sunday (Dec 28) above the Karimata Strait area around 110 sea miles southwest of Pangkalan Bun in Central Kalimantan.

The Airbus A320-200 aircraft had on board 155 passengers comprising 137 adults, 17 children, and an infant, as well as two pilots, four crew members, and a technician.

Search and safety operations as well as investigation into the incident are going on.
Source: ANTARA