Rescuers say they have discovered bodies near the wreckage of a Russian-made passenger plane that crashed into the slopes of an Indonesian volcano with 45 people aboard.
Search and rescue spokesman Gagah Prakoso said his teams reached a crater on the remote, rugged upper slopes of Mount Salak on Thursday afternoon but had not found any survivors.
"We entered the area... and found the dead bodies, but we cannot say about the number," Prakoso said.
"I cannot say anything about the condition of the bodies," he said, but added: "A high speed jet plane hit the cliff, exploded and tore apart."
A helicopter searching the mountainous region south of the Indonesian capital found the wreckage of the new Sukhoi Superjet 100 which disappeared on Wednesday morning, the Indonesian government said.
A Sukoi spokesperson said that those aboard consisted of 33 Indonesians, eight Russians, two Italians, a US citizen and a French citizen, including business people, Russian embassy officials and journalists.
This was a brand new plane from Russia. It came into the country just yesterday and took people on board for an earlier test flight this morning.
Russian products are world known for their extremely poor quality. Russian planes always crash, sooner or later, and Russian ships, including their nuclear military submarines, always drown or burn.
The Superjet 100 was a new passenger plane built in Russia in a bid to lift its civil aviation industry from a post-Soviet slump and the demonstration flight was part of a tour dubbed the "Asian Roadshow" aimed at promoting the aircraft abroad.
The plane was considered crucial to Russia's hopes of becoming a major player in the modern aviation market and improving the image of an industry scarred by frequent crashes of local jets.
Indonesian regional carrier PT Sky Aviation had agreed to buy 12 of the planes, with deliveries due to begin in 2012. Happy travel on Russian flying coffins!
Source: Agencies
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