Investigators sift through crash wreckage

Indonesian air investigators yesterday sifted through the charred debris of a military transport plane which crashed into homes before bursting into flames, killing more than 100 people.

Investigators were trying to work out why the C-130 Hercules, which was carrying about 110 crew and passengers including soldiers and their families, came down in East Java province.

At least 101 people were killed in the crash, which completely burnt out much of the plane and left chunks of fuselage strewn across a rice paddy near the city of Magetan, according to air force spokesman Bambang Sulistio.

The dead included at least two residents of Geplak village who were hit as the plane smashed into the ground, he said. There were 15 survivors.

The plane was flying from the capital Jakarta to eastern Papua province via Magetan. An air marshal - the air force's equivalent to a general - and his wife were among those killed in the crash.

Several witnesses said they heard loud booms in the sky before the Hercules hit the ground, smashing through houses and rolling into a ricefield in flames.

One man reportedly said he saw a wing fall from the plane while it was still in the air.

"We have started with the initial investigations, we have to wait to see what happened," said Mr Sulistio.

A senior officer at the nearby Iswahyudi air base, Nanang, said heavy machinery had been brought in to clear the wreckage and investigators had arrived from Jakarta to determine the cause of the crash.

Rescue workers used tools to slice and pry open the remains of the plane to remove the last of the victims' bodies by the early afternoon, an AFP photographer witnessed.