Indonesian officials confirm missing plane ‘totally destroyed’

An Indonesian passenger plane that went missing two days ago was destroyed when it slammed into a mountain, killing all 54 people on board, the country’s top rescue official said. Rescuers only reached the crash site Tuesday after being hindered by rugged, forested terrain and bad weather. Search and Rescue Agency Chief Henry Soelistyo said that so far 53 bodies had been recovered, and that they would be taken to Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, so they can be identified.

The plane was totally destroyed and all the bodies were burned and difficult to identify. There is no chance anyone survived.

National Search and Rescue Agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo told The Associated Press.

Soelistyo said that the plane’s black box has been recovered. The black box contains data on the plane’s operations and may give clues to the exact cause of the crash. Smoldering wreckage of the Trigana Air Service turboprop plane was spotted from the air Monday. The ATR42-300 twin turboprop plane was flying from Jayapura to the city of Oksibil when it lost contact. The plane was carrying 49 passengers and five crew members on a scheduled 42-minute flight. Five children, including two infants, were among the passengers.

World Indonesia plane crash