An Indonesian Hercules transport plane crash in a residential area in Medan City on Tuesday has resulted in the deaths of all passengers and crew.

The BBC reported that a military transport plane, a Hercules C-130, smashed several residential and commercial structures as it fell down some minutes after taking off from a nearby air base. Shortly afterward, the plane exploded.

Like Us on Facebook

Agus Supriatna, the Indonesian Air Force Chief, rushed to the scene and told reporters that all of the 113 passenger and crew are dead.

However, only around 50 casualties have been brought to the hospital. Many are still in the wreckage awaiting recovery. Rescuers are working to recover the bodies while parts of the crashed plane is still burning. Their vision is reportedly being obstructed by smoke from the fire.

It is believed that a number of people are still trapped in the buildings that were hit by the plane, although this is yet to be confirmed.

According to Al Jazeera, many of the dead passengers are family members of Indonesian soldiers. Civilians riding on military planes is a common practice in the country. From its Medan air base, the plane was supposed to land in the Natuna islands.

The pilot reportedly informed the control tower that he is returning to the air base due to some technical difficulties with the plane before it fell

Although the plane was carrying 12 crewmen and more than a hundred passengers, the passenger manifest only listed 50 people on board, according to Yahoo News. Military authorities are set to start an official inquiry to determine the cause of the crash.

The recent crash is just one of the several fatal plane accidents suffered by the Indonesian Air Force in recent years.

In a span of ten years, this is the second incident plane crash accident in the city of Medan. The first incident occurred in 2005 when a 737 passenger plane went down in a busy residential location. The accident resulted in the deaths of 113 crew and passengers and another 30 more people, who were inside or near their houses at that time.

TagsIndonesia plane, indonesia air force, Indonesia Plane Crash, Indonesia Hercules Plane Crash, Hercules C-130