AirAsia flight QZ8501: Number of bodies pulled from crash rises to 100

One of the bodies is believed to be the pilot or co-pilot

A coffin is moved containing recently recovered remains (REUTERS/Antara Foto/Yudha Manx )

The total number of victims retrieved from December’s AirAsia flight QZ8501 crash has risen to 100, after crews discovered seven more bodies, including one believed to be the pilot or co-pilot.

The A320-200 Airbus crashed into the Java Sea on 28 December, during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

All 162 passengers and crew members on board were killed, but dozens of bodies remain missing after the seven, including one from the cockpit, were removed from the craft over the past few days.

Henry Bambang Soelistyo, chief of Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency, said four bodies were recovered on Friday, including one person believed to be either the pilot or co-pilot.

Workers load the tail of AirAsia flight QZ8501 onto a truck at Kumai sea port, in Central Kalimantan, on 7 February, before they transport it to Jakarta (AFP PHOTO / Yudha MANXYUDHA MANX/AFP/Getty Images)

Mr Soelistyo told MetroTV that three further bodies were recovered on Saturday, bringing to 100 the number of victims retrieved.

Some of the bodies were found off Sulawesi island, about 620 miles east of the crash site, he added.

Additional reporting by AP