MSGID: 2:292/854 1f311610
TZUTC: 0100                  
At least four hundred rescue workers are searching the jungle in the southwest
of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi for a plane that disappeared near the
city of Makassar. The plane had eight crew members and three passengers on
board.
 
According to local authorities, the Indonesia Air Transport European model
ATR72-500 may have crashed and exploded, ANP reports.
 
It was leased by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, according to local
media.
 
The head of the local search and rescue service said that teams have been
deployed in a mountainous area of ??the Maros district, which borders
Makassar, near the plane's last known location.
 
The air force, police, and volunteers are involved in the land and air search,
he added.
 
A helicopter and drones are being deployed to find the aircraft.
 
Indonesia, a vast archipelago in Southeast Asia, relies heavily on air
transport to connect its thousands of islands.
 
The country has a poor aviation safety record, with several fatal accidents in
recent years.

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