
The Indonesian plane that went down in eastern Indonesia two days ago was found completely destroyed with 38 bodies, officials said, after rescuers finally reached the remote crash site on Tuesday.
Search and rescue chief, Bambang Soelistyo said there was little chance of finding survivors at the densely forested, mountainous location in Papua province, where the Trigana Air plane went down in bad weather during a short flight on Sunday.
“The plane has crashed, it is completely destroyed.
“Everything was in pieces and part of the plane is burnt. We could see burn marks on some pieces,” Soelistyo said of the ATR 42-300 after rescue teams reached the site at 9:30 am (0030 GMT).
Photos of the site show a clearing in thick forest that appears to be fire-blackened and scattered with debris.
The plane had about 54 people; 49 passengers and five crew members.
According to the Transport ministry spokesman, Barata, “38 bodies, including one child, had so far been found at the crash site.
“We are unable to evacuate them as the weather is very bad,” he added.
Soelistyo said in an attempt to know the cause of the twin-turboprp plane crash, rescuers searched for the plane’s flight data recorder, or black boxes.
However, there was no immediate news on the fate of 6.5 billion rupiah ($470,000) in cash that was being transported by the plane for distribution to poor families as social assistance funds.
It was gathered that thick fog and rain had hampered attempts by more than 250 rescuers and 11 aircraft to reach the wreckage on Monday, and they had been forced to turn back.