Thirty bodies have been recovered from the Java Sea, five days after AirAsia flight QZ8501 crashed, Indonesian rescue officials say.
A Pakistani civil society activist places a candle during a vigil for the victims of AirAsia Flight QZ8501. Photo: AFP
The Airbus A320 disappeared with 162 people on board while flying from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore.
Operations to recover victims continue but no survivors have been found.
Specialist equipment has arrived to aid the search for the plane itself and its "black box" flight recorders.
However officials said it could not be used on Friday because of high waves, Reuters reported.
The plane is almost certainly at the bottom of the relatively shallow Java Sea.
The cause of the crash is not known yet.
In another development, it has emerged that AirAsia did not have official permission to fly the Surabaya-Singapore route on Sunday - the day of the crash - but was licensed on four other days of the week, the BBC reported.
Indonesian authorities are suspending the company's flights on this route with immediate effect pending an investigation, a transport ministry statement said.
Indonesian military officers carry wreckage from AirAsia QZ8501 in Pangkalan Bun, the town with the nearest airstrip to the crash site, on 2 January. Photo: AFP
"As of now, the results that I can confirm for you are that the number of dead bodies recovered is 30," the head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, Bambang Soelistyo, said on Friday.
Some were reportedly still strapped into their seats when they were found.
The aircraft's fuselage has still not been located, and it is thought most of the passengers could be inside. He estimated the fuselage was at a depth of about 25-30m.
"Waves were between 3-4m today, making it difficult to load bodies on to ships and [move them] between ships," Bambang Soelistyo told reporters.
Some vessels would search through the night, he added. "Tonight we are sending tug boats which should make the [body] transfers easier."
