Indonesian military aircraft crashes, killing at least 68
At least 68 people were dead following the crash early today of a military plane on the Indonesian island of Java.
Air force official Suyono, who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name, said he expected the death toll to rise.
Air force spokesman Bambang Sulistyo said the C-130 Hercules was carrying at least 112 passengers and crew members. It was on a routine training mission when it crashed near a base in East Java province, smashing into houses and then skidding into a rice field and bursting into flames.
Indonesian television flashed footage of fire engulfing the wreckage and soldiers carrying bodies on stretchers.
Witnesses said many of the victims were badly burned.
“We heard a loud explosion,” Wardi, a villager, told El Shinta radio. He said the plane was shaking before it tumbled to the ground and that it appeared to have split in two.
The country’s air force has long complained of being underfunded and has suffered a series of accidents, including a Fokker 27 plane crash into an airport hangar last month that killed all 24 onboard.
More than 120 people have been killed in recent years in commercial airline crashes in Indonesia.
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