Indonesian plane crash kills over 140

This photograph shows the site where an Indonesian air force cargo plane crashed in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Tuesday, June 30, 2015. The Hercules C-130 plane crashed into a residential neighborhood in the country’s third-largest city Medan. (AP Photo)

After a military transport plane crashed in a residential area of the Indonesian city of Medan, more than 140 people are claimed dead.

The Hercules C-130 plane hit two houses and a hotel before bursting into flames, creating a huge fireball.

Military personnel and their family members, students and other civilians were among those on board the C-130 Hercules plane that went down shortly after takeoff Tuesday in Medan. According to Air Force head Agus Supriatna who visited the crash site, there were no survivors.

A major rescue operation is under way at the site. Although, only the tail of the aircraft is recognizable while the rest has been reduced to debris.

There are reports that people are trapped inside wrecked buildings and the nearest hospital is continuing to receive bodies arriving from the crash site.

Many of the passengers are thought to have been relatives of servicemen and women.

Large crowds watched the emergency services search the burning wreckage.

“It passed overhead a few times, really low,” a witness told the Reuters news agency.

“There was fire and black smoke. The third time it came by it crashed into the roof of the hotel and exploded straight away.”

Mr. Supriatna said that the pilot had asked to return to base because of technical difficulties.

“The plane crashed while it was turning right to return to the airport,” he said.

The Hercules transport plane was manufactured in 1964, but a military spokesman said he was convinced that it was in good condition.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo called for a review of military equipment in light of the disaster.

“Following several plane crashes, we should conduct a total audit and modernize the (old) planes,” Jokowi said, according to Indonesia’s national news agency, Antara.

The plane was carrying people and logistical supplies to bases on other Indonesian islands.

It is the second time in 10 years that a plane has crashed in Medan.

In September 2005, a Boeing 737 came down in a crowded residential area shortly after take-off from Medan’s Polonia airport, killing 143 people including 30 on the ground.

A security member works at the crash site of an Indonesian military plane in the North Sumatra city of Medan, Indonesia, July 1, 2015. (Xinhua)

A relative of a victim mourns at a hospital after the crash of an Indonesian military plane Hercules C-130 in the capital of North Sumatra province Medan, Indonesia, on June 30, 2015. (Xinhua)

Security members work at the crash site of an Indonesian military plane Hercules C-130 in the capital of North Sumatra province Medan, Indonesia, on June 30, 2015. (Xinhua)