pn: 13 cadaver bags retrieved from crash site

[Phil. News Agency]

By Cris Diaz

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Feb. 7 (PNA) - - Six more cadaver bags were
retrieved from the crash site of the ill-fated flight 387 in Mt. Lumot,
Misamis Oriental this morning bringing to 13 the total so ffar of
cadaver bags delivered to Cagayan de Oro City for forensic
examination.

Jesus Dureza, head of the Presidential Action Center (PAC), which
supervises the search and rescue operations, said that retrieval
operations had been temporarily deferred this morning due to cloud
build-up in the crash site.

Dureza said elements of the Composite Air Support Force (CASF)
composed of helicopters are now on stand-by at Mat-i in Claveria,
Misamis Oriental waiting for further orders.

"We hope to resume operations anytime this afternoon if the
weather condition improve in the area, "Dureza said adding that bigger
helicopter landing pad had been cleared 200 meters from the crash site
in Mt. Lumot.

Rescue officials this morning also clarified that Mt.Lumot is a
shorter mountain than Mt. Sumagaya and is part of barangay Luaocan, a
rural village of Gingoog City.

Undersecretary Carlos Tanega of the Air Transport Office (ATO)
also said that aviation investigators have started to analyze the
probable cause of Cebu Pacific Airways flight 387 crash following
recovery of some aircraft parts in the area.

Tanega said they are looking into many angles such as instrument
error and pilot lapses as possible cause of the crash.

He said a group of ATO investigators had been sent to the crash
site this morning hoping to locate the "black box" which could
possibly lead investigators on the cause of the tragedy.

Retrieved cadaver bags composed of fragments of body parts of
crash victims are now also undergoing segregation in Cagayan de Oro by
foreign forensic experts backed by the National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI).

Identities of the victims remain unavailable as search and
rescue operations continue on its sixth day today. (PNA) MB/CD/aav

PNA 02071303

Todays Balita-L is sponsored by: The Ancestor's Pension House
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