All 54 dead bodies found at Trigana crash site

Papua New Guinea, Aug 18: Recent reports by the transportation ministry suggest that the dead bodies of all 54 passengers have been found at the Trigana crash site. The Indonesian Trigana Air craft crashed at the mountainous regions of Papua province.

J A Barat, the transport ministry spokesperson said,"There are no survivors. All fifty-four bodies have been found." The ATR42-300 twin turboprop plane was carrying 49 passengers and five crew members.

Passengers also included five children and 2 infants. The plane is said to have lost contact with the traffic control room just before 3 pm after taking off from Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, the search and rescue agency said.

The plane was just 10 minutes away from a remote place called Oskibil, located in the mountains. The plane was also carrying 6.5 billion rupiah ($470,000) in cash to be used for aide. Haryono, the head of Jayapura post office, said,"Four of our personnel were escorting the funds. The money was in four bags."

Aviation officials said that Oksibil was a mountainous area where the weather is unpredictable. It can suddenly be windy, stormy and dark here. "We strongly suspect it's a weather issue. It is not overcapacity, as the plane could take 50 passengers," said one of the investigating officials.

OneIndia News