“I ask mass media to stop repeating their mistake: if the number of body bags reached 141, that does not mean 141 bodies. We’ve found only 91 bodies,” Agus Supriyatna said to the local internet-portal detik.com.
The Hercules C-130B warplane crashed into a thickly populated residential area in the southwestern part of Medan, the capital of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, about two minutes after it took-off from the Soewondo air base.
Conflicting reports of the number of dead reflect the chaotic situation at the site of the tragedy. On Tuesday, Agus Supriyatna said that all 113 people aboard the plane died in the crash, including 101 passengers and 12 crew members.
The Indonesian Air Force has prohibited further flights of their Hercules-B warplanes until a thorough technical examination is carried out.
