Fifteen people are dead and three are seriously injured after a police plane crashed into the sea in the Indonesian province of Papua.
The Casa-212 aircraft carrying 18 people went down early yesterday morning while n trying to land at Mararena Airport in the regency of Sarmi.
Witnesses say the plane plummeted into an estuary about 500 meters in front of the airport.
A police spokesman says they want to know why the plane was carrying civilian passengers.
Eleven civilians and four police officers died in the crash.