The Boeing 737-500 aircraft was on its way from Jakarta to the city of Pontianak, on the Indonesian side of Borneo, when it lost contact at 2:40 PM local time (2:40 a.m. ET), 11 nautical miles north of Jakarta Sukarno. Hatta International Airport.
According to the Indonesian Minister of Transport, there were 50 passengers – 43 adults and 7 children – on board, as well as 12 crew members.
On Sunday, family members gathered at a victim identification center in Jakarta and a crisis center in Pontianak, where they waited for news about their loved ones.
This is what we know about the victims so far.
Agus Minarni and Muhammad Nur Kholifatul Amin
Agus Minarni and Muhammad Nur Kholifatul Amin had traveled from their home in Mempawah, Indonesian Borneo, to Jakarta, Java to attend Amin’s father’s funeral – which took place in Ponorogo, eastern Java.
While in Ponorogo, they could also spend time with one of their sons, who attends a boarding school there.
When the couple returned to Jakarta, Minarni’s brother Yudiansyah Yunus asked her for help in obtaining a place in a boarding school for one of his sons.
That was the last time they would be in contact, Yunus told CNN.
Minarni and her husband were due to fly home on January 5 with another carrier – Nam Air, he said.
But when they arrived at the airport on Tuesday, they were told they would have to undergo a coronavirus PCR test to board the flight – a process that would delay them from flying for two more days.
Once the couple got the results of their test, they were able to rebook their flight home, but this time it would be on a different airline, Sriwijaya Air.
Yunus says the loss of his sister has left a huge hole in the family and that he will miss her terribly.
She was a nice person, he said, adding that she had always helped him and his younger sister in many ways. He added that she was a very caring person and had treated her aunts and uncles kindly.
Yunus said he will take care of the couple’s teenage children, who are now orphans.
It is imperative that “all concerned stakeholders, the airline and the government take this investigation seriously,” said Yunus.
He added that he hopes the Indonesian authorities will do their best “to find at least their remains in any form” so that he can properly bury his sister “like those who normally die.”
“That’s all I hope,” he said.
A family of five in transit
A family of five from Bangka Island – an island east of Sumatra – was missing and feared dead, said the family’s aunt, who spoke to CNN.
The family released a statement on Saturday saying that 26-year-old Rizki Wahyudi, his 26-year-old wife, Indah Halimah Putri, and their 7-month-old son were on the run who crashed.
Wahyudi’s mother and cousin were also on the run.
Wahyudi worked for the Indonesian Forestry Commissioner in Ketapang, West Kalimantan – a province on the Indonesian side of Borneo for the past three years.
The family of five was in the Bangka Islands to visit other relatives and returned to West Kalimantan via Jakarta.
On Sunday, two of Wahyudi’s uncles in Bangka submitted their DNA to assist in the identification process.
A pregnant mother and her family visiting relatives in Jakarta
Ratih Windania, who was four months pregnant, visited relatives in Jakarta with her 2-year-old daughter Yumna; 8-year-old cousin, Athar Rizki Riawan; Uncle Tony Islmail and Aunt Rachmawati, according to Riawan’s father, Iwan.
In a story posted to her Instagram account before leaving Jakarta airport on Saturday, Windania says goodbye to family members living in Jakarta.
Windania also posted a cheerful photo of herself and her smiling daughter and nephew who were on the plane just before takeoff.
Father and businessman Yohanes Suherdi, 30
Yohanes Suherdi was on a business trip in Jakarta and was looking forward to returning to his family in Ngarak, a village a few hours from Pontianak Airport.
His wife, Susilawati Bungahilaria, 32, told CNN she hopes Suherdi will be found safe and the family will reunite soon. The couple have a 5-year-old son, Rian Gusti Rafael.
Bungahilaria said she spoke to her husband shortly before takeoff – whom she described as a “very good and social person”.
“His last message to me was not to forget to take our son to a doctor because he had a fever,” she said.
Sobbing, she said that her son keeps asking when his father is coming home.
Bungahilaria and Suherdi’s father traveled to a crisis center in Pontianak on Sunday, where they returned physical items to aid in the identification process, including the father’s DNA.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the number of passengers on the flight. There were 50 passengers and 12 crew.