Indonesia military plane crash: Death toll rises to 142
NEWS DESK (DİHA) - The death toll from the crash of an Indonesian air force plane packed with military personnel and their families rose to 142 on July 1, as witnesses described people fleeing the disaster zone covered in blood with their clothes alight.
The Hercules C-130 transport plane crashed into a residential area in the city of Medan on June 30, shortly after taking off from an airbase in the city on Sumatra island. Buildings were severely damaged, cars reduced to flaming wrecks and the plane itself was almost completely destroyed, with the mangled tail the only part of the 51-year-old aircraft still recognisable after the disaster. Many of those on board the flight to an island off Sumatra, which was carrying 122 people, were believed to be servicemen and women and their families. The air force has said no one survived the crash.
It is unclear how many people died on the ground, but a steady stream of bodies has been arriving at a Medan hospital as rescuers pull them from the disaster scene, and police said July 1 that the total death toll now stood at 142.
The plane took off at 12:08 pm from the airbase and crashed in the city about two minutes later, about five kilometres from the base, according to the military.
(nt)
