Rescuers have discovered bodies near the wreckage of a Russian-made passenger plane that crashed into an Indonesian volcano with 45 people on board.
Search and rescue spokesman Gagah Prakoso said his teams reached the remote, rugged site near the crater and found the Sukhoi Superjet-100 scattered along the jungle slopes. He said rescuers also spotted several bodies, which will have to be placed in nets and lifted by ropes to hovering helicopters. The plane was on a demonstration flight for potential buyers and journalists in Indonesia when it crashed on Wednesday, 20 minutes after take-off. Family members, many of whom spent a long, sleepless night at the airport, broke down in tears on hearing the wreckage had been found. Daryatmo, chief of the national search and rescue agency, said: “From the pictures we’re seeing, it looks like it was a total loss.”