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JAKARTA - THE bodies of 18 people including three foreigners killed in a plane crash in mountains not far from Jakarta were to be flown to an airbase in the Indonesian capital on Sunday, according to reports.
A Casa C-212 transport plane crashed on Thursday afternoon around Mount Salak in West Java 40 km south of Jakarta, killing all 18 on board.
'Eleven bodies have arrived at the airforce hospital for identification...
We hope the rest can be transferred this afternoon as soon as possible,' air force spokesman Air Vice-Marshal Sagom Tamboen said on ElShinta radio.
The bodies will be flown to Jakarta's Halim Perdanakusuma airbase, from where the plane departed, before being flown home.
The three foreigners - from Britain, India and Singapore - were among six civilians on board the military flight when it took off on a short trip to test ground imaging equipment.
The other 12 on the plane were with the military.
Heavy fog has delayed efforts to retrieve the bodies from the crash location on the slopes of Mount Salak.
'We are trying our best to bring the bodies out of (the crash) location, but the weather is fluctuating from clear to foggy every 30 minutes,' rescue team head Hadi Tugiman told reporters earlier.
Indonesia has one of the world's worst aviation safety records following a string of deadly disasters in recent years.
The archipelago relies heavily on air as well as sea links. -- AFP
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