The Indonesian Air Force Chief, Air Marshall Agus Supriatna, on Tuesday said the death toll from the military plane crash in the country has risen to 113.
Agus said 101 civilians and 12 military crew members were on board the C-130 Hercules plane.
The Air Force chief also said 23 bodies have been identified in Adam Malik Hospital in Medan from 49 body bags received by the hospital as of the afternoon.
Supriatna said in the Military Air Transport Flight mission, besides carrying logistics also carried troops transferred to serve in several regions along with their family members.
“We are yet to have information on how many family members each troop had carried along in the plane,” he said.
The plane, serving Malang Air Forces base, departed from Halim Perdanakusumah Airport in Jakarta early Tuesday morning and made stopovers in Pekanbaru, Riau and Dumai to pick up troops.
Initial investigation revealed that the plane’s pilot asked for Return to Base procedure to air traffic control officers before the crash.
The investigation said the request suggested that a problem has occurred in the plane.
The Indonesian military said it has set up a team to investigate the plane crash.
The plane was manufactured in 1964 and served the air forces’ 32 Squadron based in Malang, East Java.
Indonesia was the largest operator of C-130 Hercules in the southern hemisphere with 28 such planes still in service.
Xinhua/NAN.