Plane crashes in Papua, 12 feared dead

JAKARTA, Nov 18: A small twin-engine passenger plane has crashed in Indonesia's remote eastern province of Papua and all 12 on board are feared dead, Papua police spokesman Kartono Wangsadisastra said today.

Speaking by phone from the provincial capital of Jayapura, 4,000 km east of Jakarta, Wangsadisastra said the Twin Otter plane went missing yesterday morning and its wreckage was spotted from the air in a hard-to-reach area today.

''It seems it struck a mountain because of smog or (bad) weather,'' he said.

The Jakarta Post newspaper said the plane had been chartered by a local government body to transport officials.

''Hopefully there are some still alive'' among the nine passengers and three crew on board'', but ''seeing the conditions it's probably impossible'', said Wangsadisastra.

Evacuation operations would begin as soon as weather permitted, he said.

REUTERS