Indonesian passenger plane crashes with 54 on board

An Indonesian Trigana Air passenger plane ATR42 with 54 people on board, on route to Oksibil crashed at camp3, Ok Bape district in the Bintang Mountains Regency, in the east Papua, according to Airport Transportation Director-General Suprasetyo.

The flight took off from the regional capital Jayapura for Oksibil in the south at 14:21 local time (05:21GMT), but contract was lost.

Villagers from Okbape, around 25km from Oksibil airport, a mountainous area where weather is very unpredictable, as it can turn foggy, dark and windy without any warning, said they saw a low flying aircraft crash into Tangok mountain, according to local police.

Rescue teams will continue their search at first light on Monday morning.

The ATR42-300 twin turboprop plane was carrying 44 adult passengers, five children and infants, and five crew.

It took off from Sentani airport in Jayapura, but lost contact with ground control half an hour later at 14:55.

Transport ministry spokesman Julius Barata also confirmed the disappearance.