From correspondents in Java, Indonesia, 10:30 AM IST

At least 57 people were killed Wednesday when an Indonesian military plane with more than 100 people on board crashed into a residential area in East Java province, a police official said.

Adjunct Senior Commissioner Yakob Prayogo, the Magetan district's police chief, did not say whether the death toll included two people who television reports said were killed on the ground when the Hercules C-130 crashed.

'So far, 57 people were killed in the accident,' Prayogo told the MetroTV station.

Hundreds of air force and army troops were searching for and evacuating the wounded from the burned fuselage.

East Java's military commander, Major General Suwarno, said the plane, carrying 98 passengers and 14 crew, was on a regular flight from the capital, Jakarta, to the East Java district of Madiun when it crashed in a rice field at about 6.20 a.m. in Geplak village and burst into flames.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)