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Efforts are underway in Indonesia to establish whether any New Zealanders are on board an ill-fated Garuda airlines plane.
The jet from Indonesia's state carrier crashed and burst into
flames on landing at Yogyakarta airport on Wednesday morning with
140 passengers and crew on board.
Australian media said the plane's passengers included Australian
journalists and diplomatic staff. The journalists had been covering
a visit to Indonesia by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who was
not on the plane but had been expected in Yogyakarta later in the
day.
New Zealand Ambassador Phillip Gibson says a New Zealand diplomat is in Yogyakarta working to establish wether any Kiwis were on board. He says as far as the embassy is concerned, New Zealand officials were not travelling on the flight.
Indonesia's Transport Minister Hatta Rajasa told Indonesian
television that there were 76 survivors.
The plane's fuselage was burned to a twisted shell, and thick white
smoke spewed from the wreckage.
"It happened when it overshot beyond the runway and burst into flames," Yogyakarta provincial secretary Bambang Susanto told Reuters through texted messages.
"... we know that there are passengers being treated at the air force hospital," he added. Elshinta news radio said 16 injured people had been taken to hospital.
"The plane overshot the runway during landing and hit the airport fences," Julianto, one of the survivors, told Metro TV
"I was sitting at the back of the plane and people started to jump out of the plane after that. Some even jumped into the paddy field," he said.
Indonesia has suffered from a string of transport accidents in recent months, including an Adam Air plane that disappeared in January with 102 passengers and crew on board, and a ferry sinking in late December in which hundreds died.
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