Jakarta: Indonesian rescuers have found one victim from the crashed ATR 42-500 aircraft on Mount Bulusaraung in Pangkep regency, South Sulawesi, authorities said Sunday.
The victim was discovered on the mountain slope and was currently being evacuated to the search and rescue (SAR) command post in Tompobulu village.
“Today our team, besides evacuating several pieces of aircraft wreckage, has found one victim,” Commander of the XIV/Hasanuddin Military Regional Command, Major General Bangun Nawoko, told reporters at the SAR post as quoted by local media.
Nawoko said the victim’s condition and identity had yet to be confirmed, as the rescue team was still focusing on evacuation under challenging terrain, reports Xinhua news agency.
“We cannot elaborate on the condition of the victim yet. What is clear is that this requires a tough effort because the conditions are extraordinary,” he said, adding that the victim was found not far from the debris site.
The ATR 42-500 aircraft reportedly lost contact over Maros regency in South Sulawesi province. The plane was operating a flight from Yogyakarta to Makassar when communication with air traffic control was cut off Saturday.
According to official data, 10 people were on board the aircraft at the time it lost contact, comprising seven crew members and three passengers.
Earlier in September last year, an aircraft crashed in Central Papua province in Indonesia, killing all four aboard.
The wreckage was located in a canyon in Mimika regency, said I Wayan Suyatna, head of the local search and rescue office. The bodies were evacuated to a hospital in Timika, the regency’s capital.
The helicopter went down while flying from Ilaga Airport in Puncak regency to Mozes Kilangin Airport in Mimika, Suyatna said.
