98 killed as plane crashes into town

An Indonesian military plane carrying troops and their families caught fire and nose-dived into a residential neighbourhood in east Java yesterday, killing 98 people and injuring more than a dozen.

Survivors said they heard at least two loud explosions and felt the C-130 Hercules wobbling from left to right as it careened to the ground. The transporter slammed into a row of houses and then skidded into a rice paddy.

The transport plane, built in 1980, was on a routine flight from the capital, Jakarta. It was not clear what caused the crash, but President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a former army general, promised that a thorough investigation would be carried out.