KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 — Images of bodies found in the search for Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501 have roused anger and caused hysteria after they were shown on live television today.

Australian paper The Age reported Indonesian news station TVOne apologising for airing an image of a near-naked body floating in the sea, which had led to family members of the victims falling unconscious and screaming hysterically.

“Graphic images on local TV of body floating in the water believed to be from #AirAsia8501 #QZ8501 — devastating for the families,” BBC World News presenter Yalda Hakim tweeted from her Twitter account @BBCYaldaHakim.

Singapore news network Channel News Asia also said apologised for inadvertently airing graphic images that were taken directly from an Indonesian TV station.

News reports quoted the Indonesian navy as saying that more than 40 bodies have been retrieved from the Airbus A320 jet that disappeared Sunday morning with 162 people on board.

The corpses and plane wreckage were found in the Java Sea, 160km southwest of Pangkalan Bun in central Kalimantan this afternoon.

International newswire AFP also reported Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency as saying that a “shadow” has been spotted on seabed which is suspected to be the missing plane.

“Be respectful of the #QZ8501 victims and their family members by NOT sharing the pictures of bodies you see on social media. Please,” tweeted Christopher Tock at @spinzer.

Polls watchdog Bersih 2.0 tweeted, “If we truly sympathise with #QZ8501 victims, then pls DO NOT share pictures of bodies if found. It’s pointless, disrespectful of the dead”.

Flight QZ8501 disappeared from Jakarta’s radar at 6.18am local time Sunday amid stormy weather enroute to Singapore from Surabaya, just a few minutes after its pilot requested to raise the plane’s altitude to avoid bad weather. But Jakarta air traffic control reportedly denied the request because of heavy air traffic.

On board the Airbus A320 jet were 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, one Malaysian, one Singaporean, one Frenchman and one Briton, comprising 155 passengers and seven crew members.