Crashed Indonesian military plane had 113 onboard, air force says

An Indonesian military transport plane that crashed into a residential area was carrying 113 people, an air force spokesman says.

Rescuers extinguish a fire after a military plane crashed while they search for victims in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, 30 June 2015. (EPA/DEDI SAHPUTRA) Source: EPA

An Indonesian military transport plane that crashed into a northern residential area two minutes after takeoff on Tuesday was carrying 113 people, an air force spokesman said.

"According to our data, there were 113 people on board, including 12 crew," Air Force spokesman Dwi Badarmanto, speaking from the city of Medan, the site of the crash, told Reuters.

The figure is an update of comments by military spokesman Fuad Basya, who was earlier quoted by broadcaster MetroTV as saying there had been 12 crew and about 50 passengers on board.

"We are currently checking who was inside the plane," Basya added.

At least 49 bodies have so far been recovered from the site where the C-130 Hercules aircraft crashed, according to local television.

Local television showed a neighbourhood of houses and hotels in flames and black smoke billowing from the area.

According to the Aviation Safety Network, there have been 10 fatal crashes involving Indonesian military or police aircraft over the last decade.

Firefighters and military personnel inspect the site where an Air Force cargo plane crashed in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, June 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Gilbert Manullang) Source: AP

The accidents put under a spotlight the safety record of Indonesia's aviation and its ageing commercial and military aircraft. Basya said the plane that crashed on Tuesday was built in 1964.

An AirAsia plane crashed less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore on Dec. 28. All 162 people on board the Airbus A320 were killed.

The Hercules transport plane was on its way from an air force base in Medan to the remote Natuna islands and crashed a few minutes after take-off, Basya said. Media said the pilot had asked to return because of technical problems.

"It passed overhead a few times, really low," said Elfrida Efi, a receptionist at the Golden Eleven Hotel.

"There was fire and black smoke. The third time it came by it crashed into the roof of the hotel and exploded straight away," she told Reuters by telephone.

She said the plane also hit a massage parlour, where there are normally several people during the daytime. 

Sairi M. Saragih, a public relations official at the nearby Adam Malik Central General Hospital, said 11 bodies had been brought in so far.