(Reuters) — More than 140 people were feared dead on Wednesday (July 1) after a military transport plane ploughed into a residential area shortly after take-off in northern Indonesia on the previous, in what may be the deadliest accident yet for an air force with a long history of crashes.
Hundreds of rescuers from the military, police and national search and rescue team continued to search for victims at the crash site in the Sumatra city of Medan.
“This morning we are still evacuating the bodies and, as of last night, we have 95 victims that have already been taken to the hospital. Today we have found a few more victims and also a few body parts, and we hope our target for today will be accomplished,” said Rochmali, chief of Medan’s search and rescue agency, who has only one name.
“As for the ‘Black Box’, this being a military airplane, our job here as Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) is to assist them (the military) in finding it,” he added.
The crash of the aircraft, a C-130B Hercules aircraft that went into service half a century ago, is bound to put a fresh spotlight on Indonesia’s woeful air safety record and its ageing planes.
Officials said the plane plunged into a built-up area of Medan, one of Indonesia’s largest cities. Eye witnesses said it appeared to explode shortly before it smashed into houses and a hotel.
Black smoke billowed from the wreckage, and crowds of people milling around the area initially hampered emergency services.
Rochmali said there is currently more than 500 personnel at the site helping.
“The army, Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), and the police helped last night, with over 500 personnel at the crash site,” Rochmali said.
The plane had been on its way from an air force base in Medan to Tanjung Pinang in Riau Islands off Sumatra. Media said the pilot had asked to return to the base because of technical problems.
According to the Aviation Safety Network, 10 fatal crashes involving Indonesian military or police aircraft have occurred over the last decade. The accidents put under a spotlight the safety record of Indonesia’s aviation and its ageing aircraft.
The Indonesian air force has now lost four C-130s, reducing its transport reach in an archipelago that stretches more than 5,000 km (3,000 miles) from its western to eastern tips.
Air force spokesman Dwi Badarmanto said it was unclear what caused the crash and, until it was, eight other C-130Bs would be grounded.
