An Indonesian diver died looking for wreckage from the downed Lion Air jet

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November 3, 2018 1:14 PM

Officials believe Syachrul Anto, 48, died from decompression. His family has reportedly chosen not to have an autopsy conducted.

The search continues for the downed Lion Air plane, which crashed into the Java Sea on Monday.
An Indonesian diver died while searching for wreckage on Friday.
Officials believe Syachrul Anto, 48, died from decompression. His family has reportedly chosen not to have an autopsy conducted.

An Indonesian diver died while searching for wreckage from the Lion Air plane that crashed into the Java Sea earlier this week.

Syachrul Anto died on Friday while searching for bodies and wreckage from the Boeing jet, Indonesia's search and rescue agency confirmed on Saturday. He was 48.

The aircraft fell over Indonesian waters on Monday, likely killing all 189 people on board. Officials want to find out why the near-brand new jet crashed in good weather about 13 minutes after takeoff.

Isswarto, the commander of the Indonesian navy's search and rescue division, told Agence France-Presse on Saturday that Anto likely died from decompression. Isswarto, like many Indonesians, goes by one name.

Anto's family has chosen not to have an autopsy conducted, search and rescue agency spokesman Yusuf Latif told Reuters on Saturday.

Anto volunteered for the country's search and rescue agency, Isswarto said.

He previously took part in the evacuation process of an Air Asia plane crash about four years ago, and served in the Indonesian island of Palu, which suffered from an earthquake and tsunami in September, Agence France-Presse said.

"Deepest condolences for the passing of a humanitarian hero from the Indonesian Diving Rescue Team," said Muhammad Syaugi, the head of the Indonesian search and rescue agency, in a statement cited by Reuters.

News of Anto's death came as Indonesian navy divers said they found the main wreckage of the jet and heard a ping from what could be the cockpit voice recorder.

Investigators on Saturday lauded "major breakthroughs" in the search for the missing plane as divers also retrieved two turbines and a wheel from the sea this week.

On Thursday divers found another black box from the wreckage, which contains flight JT610's data recorder. However, it was found to be broken open and affected by sea water, and needs special treatment to make sure the data is accessible.

The search has been hampered by strong currents in the Java Sea.

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