Police on December 4, 2016 carry a box believed to contain remains of victims from a plane that went missing in Batam a day earlier. Authorities have recovered body parts and debris in waters where the Indonesian police plane went missing, officials said on Sunday, raising fears over the fate of the 13 who were on board. | Photo Credit: AFP

Indonesian rescuers on Sunday recovered body parts in the sea where a police plane with 13 people aboard is believed to have crashed the previous day.

The light aircraft lost contact Saturday on the way to the island of Batam, which is near Singapore, after taking off from an island off the southeast coast of Sumatra. All those aboard — five crew and eight passengers — are feared dead, officials said.

The M28 Skytruck plane is believed to have plunged into 24-meter (79-foot)-deep waters, said National Search and Rescue Agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo.

TV footage showed police uniforms and other clothing also were retrieved from the sea.

It exploded after crashing in sea

In Batam, local police chief Brig. Gen. Sambudi Gusdian quoted witnesses as saying they saw the plane explode after it crashed into the sea off Lingga district.

Search teams involving Indonesia’s navy, customs office and maritime police, as well as aircraft from Singapore, were scouring a 518-square-kilometer (200-square-mile) sea area for the wreckage of the aircraft, Soelistyo said. Divers also were deployed.

Second disaster in over a week

It was at least the second air accident in Indonesia in just over a week. On November 24, a Bell 412 EP helicopter from the Indonesian army crashed in Indonesia’s part of Borneo island, killing three and leaving one missing.

Indonesia, a sprawling archipelagic nation of more than 250 million people, has been plagued by transportation accidents in recent years, from plane and train crashes to ferry sinkings. </s> Body parts found after Indonesian plane with 13 disappears

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian rescuers on Sunday recovered body parts in the sea where a police plane with 13 people aboard is believed to have crashed the previous day.

The light aircraft lost contact Saturday on the way to the island of Batam, which is near Singapore, after taking off from an island off the southeast coast of Sumatra. All those aboard, including five crew and eight passengers, are feared dead, officials said.

The M28 Skytruck plane is believed to have plunged into 24-meter (79-foot) -deep waters, said National Search and Rescue Agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo.

He told a news conference that remains, probably of the victims, were found in the area where villagers earlier retrieved a seat and a bag containing a cellphone and police documents. He added that an oil spill was also found in the area.

TV footage showed police uniforms and other clothing also were retrieved from the sea.

In Batam, local police chief Brig. Gen. Sambudi Gusdian quoted witnesses as saying they saw the plane explode after it crashed into the sea off Lingga district.

Search teams involving Indonesia's navy, customs office and maritime police, as well as aircraft from Singapore, were scouring a 518-square-kilometer (200-square-mile) sea area for the wreckage of the aircraft, Soelistyo said. Divers also were deployed.

It was at least the second air accident in Indonesia in just over a week. On Nov. 24, a Bell 412 EP helicopter from the Indonesian army crashed in Indonesia's part of Borneo island, killing three and leaving one missing. </s> JAKARTA, Indonesia — Thirteen people are feared dead after an Indonesian police plane lost contact during a flight Saturday to the island of Batam near Singapore.

The plane, carrying five crew members and eight passengers, dropped out of contact midmorning about 50 minutes after taking off from Bangka island off the southeast coast of Sumatra island, a police statement said.

National Search and Rescue Agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo said rescuers were searching waters between Mensanak and Sebangka islands.

He said villagers found a seat and a bag containing a cellphone and police documents.

TV footage showed that police uniforms and other articles of clothing also had been retrieved from the sea.

Local media, citing the Tanjung Pinang naval base commander, reported that bodies had been recovered by villagers. </s> An Indonesian police plane with 13 people on board lost contact during a flight on Saturday to the island of Batam near Singapore, authorities said.

The plane, with five crewmembers and eight passengers, dropped out of contact midmorning about 50 minutes after taking off from Bangka island off the southeast coast of Sumatra island, a police statement said.

National Search and Rescue Agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo said rescuers were searching seas between Mensanak and Sebangka islands.

He said villagers had found a seat and a bag containing a cellphone and police documents. </s> Indonesian authorities say a police airplane with 13 people on board has lost contact during a flight to the island of Batam near Singapore.

A police statement said the plane, with five crew and eight passengers, dropped out of contact mid-morning Saturday about 50 minutes after taking off from Bangka island off the southeast coast of Sumatra island.

A search and rescue effort is underway. </s> The plane was on its way from Pangkal Pinang, Bangka Belitung province, to Batam in the Riau Islands. (Photo: Representational Image)

Jakarta: An Indonesian police plane carrying 13 people went missing on Saturday on a short domestic flight and is feared crashed, police said, the latest blow to the country's aviation sector.

The M28 Skytruck plane lost contact with air traffic control during what was supposed to be a 1.5 hour flight in western Indonesia.

"Fishermen found clothes, suitcases and air plane seats we fear belong to the plane," national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar told AFP.

The plane was on its way from Pangkal Pinang, Bangka Belitung province, to Batam in the Riau Islands.

An earlier police statement said the plane had set off at 9:24 am but that air traffic control lost contact with the plane at 10:15 am. It was carrying five crew and eight passengers.

Indonesia's search and rescue team have been deployed and Singapore said it was also helping as the incident happened close to the city-state. Indonesia has a poor aviation safety record and has experienced several air disasters recently.

Last week, an Indonesian army helicopter crashed on Borneo island leaving three crew dead, while in November a cargo plane crashed in Papua region killing four. </s> BATAM, Indonesia (AFP) - The death toll from aboat accident in Indonesia has climbed to 54, an official said on Friday (Nov 4), after dozens of bodies were found floating in the ocean.

Search teams on Friday pulled another 36 corpses from the sea around Batam island, south of Singapore, near where the boat struck a reef and sunk more than two days ago, local police chief Sam Budi Gusdian told reporters.

The overcrowded boat was carrying three crew and 98 passengers, mostly Indonesian migrant workers, from Malaysia to Batam at the time of the accident.

Authorities managed to save 41 passengers and had hoped to find more alive before making the grisly discovery.

"Forty-one people have been found alive, while six remain missing. The rest died," Brigadier General Gusdian told reporters.

Only 12 passengers have been formally identified, he added. Among the dead were two young girls.

Police said the passengers were likely illegal Indonesian migrant workers returning from jobs in Malaysia, and the boat was over capacity at the time of the accident.

One of the crew members managed to survive and was being questioned by police, Brig Gen Gusdian said.

The Indonesian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands is heavily dependent on boat transport, but safety standards are lax and fatal accidents common.

More than 60 people died in December when huge waves capsized a ferry charting a course through Sulawesi province. </s> TEMPO.CO, Jakarta -A joint search and rescue (SAR) team has set up six command posts to look out for a police plane which crashed into the waters of Riau Islands on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 3).

The six command posts were set up in Senayang Island. These can be contacted through 082119181966 and 082283953383, or at Sei Enam Kijang Port (081372094840)), the National SAR Agency (Basarnas) office in Tanjungpinang (081239387777), Telaga Punggur Port (081212342010), Hang Nadim International Port in Batam (082390838877), and Bhayangkara Hospital in Batam (081270004794), spokesman for the Riau Islands Provincial Police, Adjunct Senior Commissioner S Erlangga, said.

"The six command posts are all set to facilitate search for the plane, evacuate the passengers of the plane and identify them," he noted.

The police plane with 15 people on board crashed while on way from Pangkal Pinang in the Sumatran province of Bangka-Belitung Islands to Batam, Riau Islands, on Saturday.

"There were 15 people on board the Sky Truck M-28, including crew members and passengers. They were all policemen," the head of public relations of the Riau Islands regional police command, Adjunct Senior Commissioner S Erlangga, confirmed here earlier in the day.

"The plane took off at 09:24 West Indonesian Time from Pangkal Pinang," Erlangga informed.

He revealed that the police personnel on board were to replace those embedded with the air police directorate of the Riau Islands regional police command.

The provincial police disclosed that the search for the ill-fated plane was being conducted since Saturday afternoon.

"By Saturday evening, the joint SAR team which conducted the search, had not found any victim," Erlannga disclosed.

The Indonesian Navy (TNI AL) is deploying two warships and two patrol boats to search for the plane, its spokesman said.

The two warships and two patrol boats were heading for the waters, believed to be the crash scene, Chief of the TNI ALs Information Service Commodore Gig Jonias Mozes Sipasulta explained on Saturday.

ANTARA </s> A rescue diver has died while searching the wreckage of a passenger plane that crashed earlier this week in Jakarta, Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board.

Syachrul Anto, 48, was searching for victims of the Lion Air flight when he got into trouble yesterday.

The search and rescue agency (Basarnas) confirmed his death today but did not give a specific cause.

Basarnas chief Muhammad Syaugi said: ‘Deepest condolences for the passing of a humanitarian hero from the Indonesian Diving Rescue Team.’

Mr Anto’s family had chosen not to conduct an autopsy and asked for his remains to be buried immediately.

Divers were searching through debris on the muddy sea bed for a second black box from the jet.

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Flight JT610 crashed into the sea early on Monday, 13 minutes after it took off from Jakarta.

The pilot of the Boeing 737 had turned back to Jakarta after requesting permission to do so from air traffic control.

Rescuers have so far retrieved 73 body bags containing human remains but they have only managed to identify four people.

President Joko Widodo encouraged rescuers to step the search for the dead, saying: ‘I ask for you to use all your might, all the technology available, to work fast to find anything else.’

He also thanked rescue crews for their hard work.
Human remains are found in the sea near where an Indonesian police plane carrying 13 people crashed. The plane was traveling to the island of Batam.