Jakarta: At least 30 people were killed on Tuesday when a Hercules C-130 military cargo aircraft crashed into a residential area in Medan city on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, the media reported.
The bodies of the 30, including crew members, were sent to Adam Malik Hospital from the crash site in downtown Medan, capital Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, Xinhua reported.
TV footage showed the bodies being brought to the hospital in body bags carried by ambulances. Two people suffered severe burn wounds and were evacuated.
Indonesian Air Forces Commander Air Marshall Agus Supriatna hinted in an interview with TV One that the crash was caused by “trouble” with the plane.
Reports said dozens of lives might have been lost as the plane crashed into a densely populated neighbourhood of the city.
Agus said the pilot of the plane sought an RTB (Return to Base) request to officials shortly after take off from Polonia airport.
“The plane banked to the right before it eventually crashed. Trouble occurred in the plane. It was proved from the pilot’s RTB request,” Agus said, adding that the crashed plane was manufactured in 1964.
A witness said that the plane exploded in midair before crashing to the ground in a housing compound located.
Indonesia operates 28 C-130 Hercules military cargo planes.