Indonesia's search and rescue agency say 92 victims still missing after an AirAsia plane crash could have been swept away or be lost on the seabed after no more bodies were found in the jet's fuselage.
Flight QZ8501 went down in the Java Sea on December 28 in stormy weather with 162 people on board, during what was supposed to be a short trip from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
So far just 70 bodies have been recovered.
Authorities had hoped that the majority of the passengers and crew would be in the plane's main section, but after several days searching the fuselage, they said no more bodies could be located.
"They could be on the seabed, or have been swept away by waves and currents," said S.B. Supriyadi, a search and rescue agency official who has been co-ordinating the hunt.
The military, which has provided the bulk of personnel and equipment for the operation, withdrew from the search on Tuesday due to the failure to find more victims, and after several failed attempts to lift the damaged fuselage.
The civilian search and rescue agency has said it will push on with the hunt for at least a week, with three aircraft, several ships, and divers.
While Supriyadi suggested it would be tough to find any more victims, agency chief Bambang Soelistyo said he was "optimistic".
He added that search and rescue teams were being given two days' break and would push on with the hunt afterwards.
The agency said that the main aim of the operation is to find more bodies not to lift the plane's fuselage, which has split in two.
However, analysts have reacted with surprise to the suggestion that the rest of the wreckage might be left on the seabed, as retrieving it would help with the investigation into the crash.
The jet's black boxes - the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder - have been recovered, and investigators are analysing them.
A preliminary report into the accident is being completed this week.
Just moments before the plane disappeared off the radar, the pilot had asked to climb to avoid a major storm but was not immediately granted permission due to heavy air traffic.
