JAKARTA: Indonesian rescuers on Friday had found the bodies of 10 passengers on a fishery surveillance plane that went missing in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province at the weekend, the country’s search and rescue agency said.
The ATR 42-500 turboprop owned by aviation group Indonesia Air Transport (IAT) lost contact with air traffic control on Saturday at about 1:30 p.m. local time (0530 GMT) around the Maros region in South Sulawesi.
There were seven crew members and three passengers on board the plane, which was chartered by Indonesia’s Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry to conduct air surveillance on its fisheries. The passengers were ministry staff members.
Andi Sultan, an official at South Sulawesi’s rescue agency, said through tears during a video statement that authorities found the ninth and tenth bodies early on Friday, adding that the evacuation process was still ongoing.
The agency said separately on its Instagram account that 10 victims have been found.
