6 bodies from crashed AirAsia plane retrieved

Indonesian rescuers searching for the missing AirAsia plane have spotted six bodies and recovered three from waters off the southern coast of Kalimantan island, shortly after they observed floating debris later confirmed to be from the ill-fated plane.

The bodies were found 190 km from Central Kalimantan Province's Pangkalan Bun city, Henry Bambang Soelistyo, head of Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency, told a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

He said divers, wrecking crew and other rescue forces will be deployed to scour the area.

The three bodies retrieved will be sent to Surabaya, the capital of East Java province where the plane took off, for identification, he added.

According to Soelistyo, the rescuers spotted an "emergency exit door" and other objects, and they also found a "shadow" on the seabed which is believed to be the fuselage of the missing jet. Soelistyo said the depth of the waters is 25-30 meters.

Indonesia AirAsia's Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control early on Sunday during bad weather on a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

The Airbus 320-200 carried 162 people, including 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, and one person each from Malaysia, Singapore, Britain and France.

As local rescuers were getting ready to search the sea area where they thought it most likely to find the jetliner's wreckage, countries sent in their condolences for the victims and pledged more resources to help the search operation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday sent a message of condolences to his Indonesian counterpart, Joko Widodo, over the crash of the jetliner.

Xi said he was shocked by the news, expressing, on behalf of the Chinese government and people, his profound sympathy to Indonesia over the tragic incident.

Xi also voiced deep grief to all victims on board the plane and sincere condolences to their families.

On the same day, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a routine press briefing that Chinese maritime search and rescue force was ready to leave for relevant waters for searching missing plane, and that China has maintained close contact with Indonesia on search work.

China will continue to closely monitor developments and provide further assistance for Indonesia as needed, said Hua.

On Monday, A Chinese navy frigate on routine patrol in the South China Sea headed for the waters where the jet went missing, and the Air Force was making preparations and coordinating with the countries on the flight route, according to a statement from the Defense Ministry.

The United States has deployed the USS Sampson, a guided missile destroyer, and said it is ready to send another ship if needed to join the search for the plane.

Singapore has ordered its two vessels already on the search operation to change course so they could get to the new search area sooner. It said it has sent a third vessel to join the mission.

According to local reports, about 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States have been involved in the search.

France has proposed sending domestic experts to help investigate the causes of the crash. Two investigators from French accident investigation agency BEA had already flown to Jakarta on Monday to take part in the investigation.