previous news was posted at 13:49
An Indonesian aircraft with 27 people on board crashed off the eastern province of West Papua Saturday, killing all people on board, officials and media reports said, dpa reported.
The MA-60 plane belonging to the state-run Merpati Airlines, crashed into the sea near West Papua's Kaimana airport, Transport Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said.
Airline chief Jhony Sardjono told the state-run Antara news agency that the plane was carrying 18 adult passengers, two children and a baby. He said the plane was en route from Sorong city to Kaimana airport.
Other news reports spoke of 25 passengers.
Kaimana airport official Jaka Karim said the aircraft lost balance due to bad weather and fell into the sea about 500 metres from shore, reported Vivanews.com online news portal, adding the plane was seen circling above the airport before it went down.
"The information I received, the aircraft sank because it was crashed in the deep sea," Bambang said, adding that rescue workers, joined by local fishermen were searching for the victims.
Papua police chief Bekto Suprapto told MetroTV television channel that 16 bodies had been discovered so far while 11 others were remained missing and feared dead.
"Some of the founded bodies was no longer intact," Suprapto said, explaining that the plane broke into pieces and confirming that it was heavy rains when the plane fell down.