9 Apr 2009

Six die in Indonesian cargo plane crash in Papua

4:16 pm on 9 April 2009

Six people are believed to have died when a cargo plane crashed in the mountain highlands of Indonesia's eastern Papua province.

The Aviastar cargo plane was travelling from the provincial capital Jayapura to Wamena town when it crashed while attempting to land.

The state news agency Antara reported that the Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu was scheduled to fly on the plane to observe elections in Wamena but had cancelled the plan.

Indonesia, which relies heavily on air links across the archipelago, has one of Asia's worst air safety records.

Last year, the European Union banned all Indonesian-registered aircraft from flying over its airspace.