Rescuers reach Indonesia plane crash site
A search and rescue team has reached the remote jungle site in Indonesia's Sumatra island where a...
A search and rescue team has reached the remote jungle site in Indonesia's Sumatra island where a plane crashed with 18 people on board two days earlier, officials said Saturday.
The team of eight hovered above the plane in a helicopter Saturday morning, and four were lowered to the crash site.
The fate of the four crew and 14 passengers, who include four children, was still unclear as radio communication with personnel on the ground was lost.
Hopes of finding survivors were given a boost on Friday when the mother of one of the passengers said her daughter had phoned her.
"Today we hope the personnel on the ground can prepare an emergency helipad so we can rescue the victims as soon as possible," director of operations at the national search-and-rescue agency Sunarbowo Sandi said.
Extreme weather, including strong winds and heavy rain, has hampered rescue efforts.
The Casa 212 turboprop plane went down Thursday morning after departing Medan city, in North Sumatra, for the nearby province of Aceh.
But the commercial flight run by Nusantara Buana Air sent a distress signal soon afterwards and crashed at 1,100 metres (3,600 feet) in the mountainous Bohorok area about 70 kilometres (40 miles) northwest of Medan.
© 2011 AFP
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