"Bye-bye, family. We're heading home for now," Ratih Windania posted on Instagram from Jakarta's airport, with pictures of two laughing children and two emojis blowing kisses.
The message was sent just before they boarded a plane from the Indonesian capital on Saturday that crashed into the sea minutes after take-off, carrying 62 passengers and crew.
"Pray for us," her brother Irfansyah Riyanto posted on Instagram with a picture of the family.
The Indonesian authorities said they had recovered pieces of wreckage and human remains on Sunday from the waters north of the capital where Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 disappeared in rainy weather.
Like dozens of other desperate relatives, Irfansyah rushed to Jakarta's Soekarno Hatta International Airport late on Saturday. On Sunday, he was still hoping for good news about his sister and four other family members on the flight, including his parents.
"We feel powerless. We can only wait and hope to have any information soon," he said.
Irfansyah said his relatives had originally been due to take an earlier flight operated by Sriwijaya's unit NAM Air and he was unclear why that was changed.
His sister and her two children had been at the end of a three-week holiday and were taking the 740-kilometre trip home to Pontianak in the province of West Kalimantan.
"I was the one who drove them to the airport, helped with the check-ins and the luggage ... I feel like I still can't believe this and it happened too fast," Irfansyah said.
The flight disappeared from radar screens minutes after the plane took off and reached an altitude of 3,300 metres.
The Indonesian authorities said they tracked signals believed to be from the plane's black boxes on Sunday. Police asked families to provide information, such as dental records and DNA samples, to help identify any bodies retrieved.
At hospital, the brother of co-pilot Diego Mamahit said he had been asked for a blood sample.
"I believe my younger brother survived; these are just for the police procedure," Chris Mamahit said. "Diego is a good man. We still believe Diego survived."
On his LinkedIn profile, Mamahit had written: "I really love to fly."
He and the pilot, Afwan, who goes by only one name, had nearly two decades of commercial flying experience between them. Afwan had previously been an air force pilot.
"We the family still hope for good news," a family member of Afwan, a devout Muslim, told Detik.com.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo offered his sympathies on Sunday.
"We are making our best efforts to find and rescue the victims and we all pray that they can be found," he said.
Panca Widiya Nursanti, a middle-school teacher in Pontianak, had been returning after a holiday in her home town of Tegal in Central Java. In Pontianak, her husband Rafiq Yusuf Al Idrus recounted the last contact he had with her.
"I was joking by saying that when she arrived in Pontianak we would eat satay together," he said.
"She contacted me via WhatsApp at 2.05pm with laughter. She was already boarding the plane and she said the weather were not good. I said pray a lot, please."
The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
