Indonesian plane crash: Scores feared dead and hotel destroyed after military plane comes down in Sumatran town of Medan

Reports emerging appear to show an area devastated by the crash

An Indonesian soldier secures the crash site (AFP)

An Indonesian military plane has crashed in the city of Medan in Sumatra killing at least 55 people with the death toll likely to rise as the full extent of the crash becomes clear.

Initial reports indicated that the Hercules C-130, which crashed into a hotel and two homes in the northern Indonesian town of Medan at around midday, was carrying just 12 passengers.

These estimates have been dramatically scaled up, as authorities said that as many as 113 individuals - some relatives of military personnel - were on-board.

"It looks like there are no survivors," Air Marshal Agus Supriatna told a local television crew.

So far 49 bodies have been removed from the crash site and taken to a nearby hospital, according to anonymous local hospital workers. Two people from the neighbourhood in Medan are also reported to have been critically injured and are currently receiving medical attention in hospital.

Earlier, a spokesperson for the Adam Malik hospital confirmed that 20 bodies had been received by the hospital so far.

A local radio station, El Shinta, reported homes had been hit while local television screened images appearing to show an aeroplane in flames. On social media images circulated appearing to show huge plumes of black smoke billowing into the skies above the crowded city.

"I saw the plane from the direction of the airport and it was tilting already, then I saw smoke billowing," an eye-witness told AFP.

Crowds gather around the debris caused by the crash (AFP)

Residents take pictures of the crash as smoke billows into the sky (AFP)

Eye-witness reports claimed to have seen the C-130B Hercules aircraft, which entered service half a century ago, circling overhead before it burst into flames and crashed into the heavily built-up area.

"It passed overhead a few times, really low," Elfrida Efi, a receptionist at the Golden Eleven Hotel, told Reuters by phone. "There was fire and black smoke. The third time it came by it crashed into the roof of the hotel and exploded straight away," she added.

Dwi Badarmanto, an air force spokesperson, said that crash had occurred a few minutes before midday after the plane took off from an air force base in the city en route to Tanjung Pinang in Sumatra.

The pilot is believed to have radioed control to ask to return after reporting technical problems.

Additional reporting by Associated Press and Reuters