Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah expressed his condolences in a message to Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) regarding the crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501. 

"His Majesty, as well as the government and people of Brunei, extend their deepest condolences and sympathies to the president, government and people of Indonesia, especially to the families of the victims," The Brunei Times said, quoting the Brunei leader on Wednesday.

In the message sent on Tuesday, the monarch stated that he was deeply saddened by the news of the crashed flight, which departed from Surabaya, East Java, on Sunday and was headed to Singapore.

"His Majesty hopes that the families of the victims are able to face this tragedy with patience and fortitude and prays that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, blesses the souls of the victims," The Brunei Times reported. 

In addition, Chief of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Vice Marshal F. H. B. Soelistyo noted at a press conference on Wednesday that seven bodies of victims of the AirAsia QZ8501 aircraft were recovered by the search and rescue team during its operations.

"We have not found the airframe yet. But we found seven bodies so far," Soelistyo affirmed, adding that the seven bodies include four men and three women.

While six of them were transported by Indonesian Warship KRI Banda Aceh, the other was taken by a Malaysian ship.

Furthermore, as many as 168 coffins have been made available in Pangkalan Bun to transport the bodies to Surabaya.

The ill-fated aircraft went missing during its flight from Surabaya, East Java, to Singapore on Sunday (December 28) morning.

Source: ANTARA