The National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) of Indonesia has retrieved seven bodies of the victims of the ill-fated Air Asia plane QZ 8501 in the Karimata Strait area, according to a press release of AirAsia which was posted on the official Facebook’s page of the Malaysia-owned carrier on Wednesday night.

All of the remains were transported to the military base in Pangkalan Bun, Borneo, two of which were then brought to Bayangkara Hospital in Surabaya for identification by Disaster Victim Identification of Police Department Republic of Indonesia (DVI POLRI), said the press release.

Earlier, two coffins containing the first two bodies recovered from the crash site of the AirAsia Flight arrived at Surabaya airport where many somber relatives waiting there could give their DNA for identification.

The bodies were taken from an air force plane to a military ambulance to be transported to a hospital for examination and identification, according to AFP.

Officials had previously hoped to recover most of the bodies but rough conditions made it difficult for helicopters to fly over the area in the Java Sea where several corpses and debris from the Airbus A320-200 were found a day earlier, AFP reported.

Tony Fernandes, Group CEO of AirAsia and AirAsia management board, on Wednesday visited the military base in Pangkalan Bun to meet with key stakeholders of the SAR operations. He also meet with many officials including Achmad Diran, Deputy Governor of Central Kalimantan, and Marsekal Muda TNI Sunarbowo Sandi, Deputy of Potential Search And Rescue (SAR).

“The search and rescue operations were unfortunately hampered by bad weather today but I am hopeful they will be able to resume the search tomorrow,” Fernandes said.