JAKARTA, May 20 (Kyodo) — (EDS: UPDATING WITH ADDITIONAL DETAILS)
An Indonesian military plan carrying 112 people crashed Wednesday in East Java Province, killing at least 58 people on board and on the ground, military and hospital officials said.
The Hercules C-130 transport plane crashed at 6:20 a.m. in a rice field in the village of Geplak in densely populated Magetan Regency as it was on its way from Jakarta to the East Java town of Madiun.
The plane also hit two houses on the ground, setting them on fire.
A staff at the Iswahyudi Airport Hospital told Kyodo News that of 70 people rushed to the hospital, 58 were confirmed dead, all of them people who were on the plane except for one person who lived in one of the houses.
The whereabouts of other eight people who were living in the houses was unclear.
On its online version, the Kompas daily quoted a Geplak villager as saying that before the plane crashed, some of its parts fell from the sky, followed later by one of its wings. He also said he saw some smoke when the plane was still flying.
East Java’s Brawijaya Military Regional Commander Maj. Gen. Suwarno said the plane had 98 passengers and 14 crew members.
He confirmed that at least 10 survivors were found.
Indonesia has a poor air safety record marked by a litany of accidents.
Filed Under: Aerospace + defense