A Lion Air Boeing 737 passenger plane with 188 people on board has crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
Flight JT 610 was on a scheduled flight to Pangkal Pinang, the main town in the Bangka Belitung Islands.
It lost contact with ground control a few minutes after take-off, and is believed to have ended up underwater. It is unclear if there are survivors.
The plane was a Boeing 737 MAX 8, a brand new type of aircraft.
“The plane crashed into water about 30m to 40m deep,” Search and Rescue Agency spokesman Yusuf Latif told AFP news agency. “We’re still searching for the remains of the plane.”
Items believed to belong to passengers have been found in the water, including ID cards and driver’s licences, the search and rescue agency said on Twitter.
At an earlier news conference, officials said the plane had been carrying 178 adults, one infant and two babies, as well as two pilots and five cabin crew. However, there are conflicting reports on the exact number of people on board.
The head of Indonesia’s disaster agency, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, has tweeted images which he said showed debris and personal belongings that came from the aircraft and had been found floating in the sea.
KN SAR 224 JAKARTA DAN RIB 03 JAKARTA TIBA DI LOKASI DAN MENEMUKAN SERPIHAN2 YG DIDUGA DARI PESAWAT LION AIR JT 610#basarnas #lionairJT610 pic.twitter.com/NtbgBwFxns
— Humas basarnas (@humas_basarnas) October 29, 2018
Serpihan pesawat Lion Air JT 610 yang jatuh di perairan Karawang. Beberapa kapal tug boad membantu menangani evakuasi. Video diambil petugas tug boad yang ada di perairan Karawang. pic.twitter.com/4GhKcRYkpG
— Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_PN) October 29, 2018
Some debris from #JT610 that reported has crashed this morning. pic.twitter.com/sWRSdGgG8n
— Taz Imansyah (@KaitouTaz) October 29, 2018
Lion Air #Jt610 indeed has crashed into the sea, no signs of survivors. Pray for there well being pic.twitter.com/4YOAmq4YxZ
— मै योगी (@sadharan_indian) October 29, 2018
source: bbc.com
