FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

News

Here are Some of the Victims of the Indonesia Plane Crash

Among the dead are a recent university graduate, a stay-at-home mother, and a husband who was in a rush to get home to his wife.
grieving family
A relative of passengers on the crashed Lion Air flight JT610, cries at Bhayangkara R. Said Sukanto hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo from Reuters

The Lion Air passenger flight that crashed and sank in the Java Sea on Monday, October 29, was packed to the brim.

The plane, a Boeing 737 8, had 180 passenger seats. On board were 178 adults, one child, two babies, six flight attendants and two pilots en route to Pangkal Pinang. But a few minutes after it took off, the plane lost contact and crashed shortly after in Tanjung Belis.

None of the 189 people on board survived.

Advertisement

Ten of the victims were employees of the Audit Board of Indonesia. The majority on board are Indonesian citizens.

This morning, the National Search and Rescue Agency transported 24 body bags to Polri Hospital in East Jakarta. When VICE arrived, the place was filled with grieving families.

Below are some of the victims of the crash.

Janry Efriyanto, 28

1540891194986-Janry-Efriyanto

Janry Efriyanto on his aunt's phone. Photo by Daniel Darmawan

Jan was a recent graduate from a university in Palembang, South Sumatra. At the time of his death, he was an employee at Bank Negara Indonesia. His family was still waiting for a DNA test confirmation at Polri Hospital when they spoke with VICE.

"I read about it from a WhatsApp group," she said. "In 2014, my child and I were in a Lion Air incident. After a 10-hour delay, they insisted on flying the plane. I'm traumatized."

"I had a bad feeling before the incident," Melissa said. "I cried and prayed until I was unconscious."

Bhavye Suneja, 31

Suneja was one of the two pilots on board. He was an Indian citizen. He was due to go back to New Delhi, where his parents live, next week.

"He had asked me to get ready for a party," Manvi Dua, Bhavye's friend and former colleague, told The Indian Express. "He was supposed to come to Delhi on November 5. This is absolutely unbelievable.”

Aside from his parents, Bhavye is survived by his wife, Garima Sethi. The couple had an arranged marriage.

"Going by the kind of love and respect they had for one another and the level of understanding they shared, it would be difficult for anyone to believe that theirs wasn’t a love marriage," Navin Banswal, another friend, told The Indian Express.

Advertisement

Merry Yuliana, 23

1540891099873-Pak-Darman

Merry Yuliana's grandfather, Darmawan, holds up a picture of her in a flight attendant uniform. Photo by Daniel Darmawan

Merry was one of the six flight attendants on board. She's originally from Minang.

"She'd been working at Lion Air for four years," said Darman, her grandfather. "She loved swimming."

Her mother also told VICE that she last talked to her daughter the evening before the flight.

Ervina Jayanti, 38

Ervina was a stay-at-home mother living in Bangka. Her brother, Junaidi, said that Ervina was gentle and well-liked. She loved cooking for her friends and family.

"We hadn't seen each other for almost two weeks," Junaidi said. "She was in Jakarta to attend an event, but I hadn't heard anything from her since the flight."

Har Harwinoko, 40

Harwinoko was an employee at Indonesia's Audit Board. The Wonosobo native was an accountant graduate from the State University of Malang.

"We are close friends of his wife," said Widyanti. "We all went to university together in Malang. He usually responded to texts really quickly, but we were unable to reach him."

Murdiman, 40

Murdiman was a member of Bangka Belitung Legislative Council. His 19-year-old son, Zulfahmi Al Faraby told ABC that his dad usually avoided flying with Lion Air, but he was in a rush to make it to his wife's birthday.

Daniel Darmawan in Jakarta contributed to reporting.