Body bags containing the victims of a Russian jet crash arrived in Jakarta yesterday as Russian investigators flew in to probe how the new aircraft smashed into the side of a dormant volcano.

Rescuers said the bodies of those who perished when Sukhoi’s new Superjet 100 hit Mount Salak in western Java on Wednesday, killing all on board, were badly dismembered and had been placed in 16 body bags.

“Today we did the evacuation by land and air, and we brought all 16 body bags to Jakarta. Tomorrow, we will continue the search,” rescue chief Daryatmo said yesterday evening.

“We are moving around to different places to find more bodies because they were scattered over many spots,” rescue chief Daryatmo said.

Family members waiting at the the Kramat Jati Police Hospital wailed as the body bags arrived by ambulance from the airport.

The bodies will be reconstructed “as much as possible”, national police forensics expert Anton Castilani said at the hospital.

The Sukhoi jet disappeared off radars on Wednesday afternoon during what was supposed to be a 40-minute demonstration flight to tout Russia’s first post-Soviet civilian aircraft.

Officials confirmed Thursday that there were no survivors on the plane carrying at least 45 people, mostly Indonesian airline representatives and eight Russians. As the bodies arrived at Jakarta’s Halim Perdanakusuma military airport, two Russian jets also landed carrying medics, helicopters and experts who will work with Indonesian authorities in the investigation.

“Forty people from Russia will go to the site to familiarise themselves with the area tomorrow,” Daryatmo said, adding they hoped to find an intact part of the plane body to collect.