JAKARTA, March 7 (Reuters) - A jet from Indonesia's state
carrier Garuda crashed and burst into flames on landing at
Yogyakarta airport on Wednesday morning with 140 passengers and
crew on board, according to Garuda officials.
Casualties were not immediately clear, but survivors said
many people had escaped the burning plane.
"The manifest shows 133 passengers and we have seven active
crew on board," a Garuda spokeswoman told Reuters.
Australian media said the plane's passengers included
Australian journalists and diplomatic staff. The journalists
had been covering a visit to Indonesia by Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer, who was not on the plane but had been
expected in Yogyakarta later in the day.
"It happened when it overshot beyond the runway and burst
into flames," Yogyakarta provincial secretary Bambang Susanto
told Reuters through texted messages.
"... we know that there are passengers being treated at the
air force hospital," he added. Elshinta news radio said 16
injured people had been taken to hospital.
"The plane overshot the runway during landing and hit the
airport fences," Julianto, one of the survivors, told Metro TV
"I was sitting at the back of the plane and people started
to jump out of the plane after that. Some even jumped into the
paddy field," he said.
The plane's fuselage was burned to a twisted shell, and
thick white smoke spewed from the wreckage.
State news agency Antara said the flight number was GA-200,
which would be a Jakarta to Yogyakarta flight that is generally
using a Boeing 737.
Indonesia has suffered from a string of transport accidents
in recent months, including an Adam Air plane that disappeared
in January with 102 passengers and crew on board, and a ferry
sinking in late December in which hundreds died.
REUTERS