HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese leaders yesterday sent messages of sympathy to Indonesian leaders over the recent fatal airplane crash of low-cost carrier Lion Air.
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam and President Nguyễn Phú Trọng, and Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc cabled a message of sympathy to Indonesian President Joko Widodo, while Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân sent her sympathies to Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Phạm Bình Minh also offered condolences to Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.
The Boeing 737 Max 8 run by low-cost carrier Lion Air, with 189 people onboard, crashed into the sea on October 29. It lost contact with air traffic control just 13 minutes after takeoff. The jet was en route from Jakarta to Pangkalpinang in Bangka Belitung province, off the island of Sumatra.
Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said on October 29 that they expected no survivors from the Lion Air plane. Indonesian search and rescue official Bambang Suryo Aji told the press that he was not expecting anyone to have survived, adding that some bodies had already been recovered.
In an official statement, the rescue agency said the reason for the crash was still uncertain. Recovery efforts are underway.
Lion Air, which was founded in 1999, is the biggest private airline in Indonesia, dominating more than 40 percent of the market. — VNS