Bodies trapped inside plane wreckage to be retrieved tomorrow

The Deputy Prime Minister and member for Lae John Rosso has confirmed that PNG Defence Force Long Range Reconnaissance Unit [LRrU] and the Police tactical response Units are currently working on retrieving the bodies of the four passengers trapped inside the plane, which crashed at Sarawagat, Morobe.

The Deputy Prime Minister said this specialist Search and Rescue [SAR] team will be using special equipment to recover the remains of the passengers who were trapped inside the wreckage of North Coast Aviation's P2-Sam plane.

Rosso said recovery was delayed due to the inhospitable weather and the low cloud cover creating an obstacle, especially with the altitude at which the bodies would be winched up to reach the helicopter.

After numerous attempts the SAR team were able to get into the crash site at Sarawagat today.

Leader of the SAR team Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Vavar, said they are currently camping at Sapmanga and will be attempting to cut through the plane wreckage to recover the remains of the four passengers' bodies tomorrow.

Assistant Commissioner of Police for Northern Command Peter Guinness revealed that once the body remains are retrieved and brought to Nadzab in Lae, they will be kept at the funeral home for police investigators to establish their identities.