'100 Feared Dead' In Indonesia Air Crash: 'Toll To Rise' From Burning Wreckage

20 May 2009

About 100 people have been killed after an Indonesian military transport plane crashed into a village in East Java, air force officials have said.

The crash, during what the military says was a routine training mission, occurred on Wednesday morning near the town of Madiun in the Gaplak district of East Java.

The C-130 Hercules aircraft, carrying more than 100 passengers and crew, crashed into several houses on the ground before skidding into a rice paddy field sending flames and billowing smoke into the air.

Footage shown on Indonesian television showed burning wreckage strewn over a rice field with only the plane's tail remaining intact.

'Toll to rise'

At least 14 children, familiy members of military personnel, were believed to have been on the flight.

Two people on the ground were also killed, Bambang Soelistyo, an air force spokesman, said.

Officials have said they expect the death toll to rise once they are able to sift through the wreckage.

About 15 injured people had been sent to local hospitals, many suffering from bad burns, Indonesian media reports said.

The Hercules aircraft was flying from Halim airbase near Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, to a base near Madiun when it came down.

The weather was clear at the time of the crash and investigations have begun into the cause of the disaster.

Burning wreckage

An eyewitness named Tofa told Indonesia's Metro TV news channel that he had heard two explosions as the plane crashed in flames.

He said local residents immediately ran to help pull passengers from the burning wreckage.

Other witnesses reported seeing the plane split apart in mid-air following a loud explosion.

Indonesia's air force has long complained of being underfunded and handicapped by a US ban on weapons sales, which had recently been lifted.

The air force has suffered a series of accidents, including one last month involving a Fokker 27 plane that crashed into an airport hangar, killing all 24 on board.

Last week a Hercules aircraft lost a wheel after it overshot the runway as it came in to land in the eastern Indonesian province of Papua.

Recent years have also seen a series of deadly crashes involving commercial passenger planes, and Indonesian airlines are currently banned from European Union airspace over safety concerns.

EsinIslam.Com