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1st LD: 5 killed in Indonesian military plane crash

Xinhua, June 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

A Hercules C-130 plane has crashed into a residential area of Medan city in Sumatra, killing at least five people, according to local TV One Tuesday.

The ill-fated C-130 Hercules military plane carried 12 crews when the crash took place at 12:14 p.m. local time in Indonesia's North Sumatra province capital of Medan, hinting that the crash was caused by "trouble" with the plane, Indonesian Air Forces Commander Air Marshall Agus Supriatna said in a live interview with TV One.

The TV reported that five bodies have been sent to a hospital in Medan. Reports said that the crash may claim tens of people's lives as the plane crashed in the city's dense populated neighborhood.

"The plane carried 12 crews consisted of three pilots, one navigator and eight technicians. The plane was in PAUM (Air Military Transport Flight) mission that carried logistic and military personnel transferred to other region," said Agus.

He said that prior to the crash, the pilot asked to return to base.

"The plane experienced trouble before the crash. It can be proved from the pilot communication with officers at the airport tower control," Agus said, adding that the plane was manufactured in 1964, operated by Squadron 32 Abdurrahman Saleh in Malang, East Java.

The plane reportedly crashed two minutes after took off from Medan's old airport of Polonia which is located in down town area. The plane crashed in a housing compound located in Jl. Jamin Ginting in the city. Endi