In Pictures: Indonesian Military Plane Crash, Death Toll Rises To 142

 

A military aircraft, The Hercules C-130 transport plane carrying 122 people crashed into a neighborhood residential area in the Indonesian city of Medan on Tuesday, killing all those aboard. At least 20 people on the ground were also killed, as search and rescue efforts were continuing on Wednesday.

 

 

By Wednesday morning, 142 bodies had been recovered. The military’s chief spokesman, Major General Fuad Basya, said on Tuesday that there were no survivors among the crew and passengers as the cause of the crash remained unknown.

Earlier Tuesday, Air Chief Marshal Agus Supriatna had said in a televised interview that 101 of the people on the C-130 Hercules were family members of military personnel, and that 12 military personnel were also aboard.

 

 

New witness accounts emerged of terrifying scenes, with one man describing how the plane flew low and then smashed into a building, producing flames as high as four storeys. “Everyone panicked and screamed. I thought it was a terrorist attack or something. I saw one man whose clothes were on fire, staggering out of the debris. His face was covered in blood, dust and ash. I had never felt so scared in my life, I thought I was going to die,” Tumpak Naibaho, a 27-year-old tyre repairman, told AFP.

 

 

Officials were working to identify the victims so far recovered, with police saying that 62 people, mostly armed forces members, had been identified. It is not clear what caused the crash but the aircraft asked to turn back just after take-off and the air force has said it may have suffered engine trouble.

 

 

Indonesia has a poor civil aviation safety record — the latest disaster came just six months after an AirAsia plane crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 162 people on board.