An Indonesian military plane has crashed in the city of Medan in Sumatra killing at least 30 people, officials have said.

The Hercules C-130 was thought to be carrying 12 people when it came down in the fourth largest city in Indonesia, shortly after midday, among houses and a hotel. However, conflicting reports indicate that the plane was transporting as many as 50 people at the time of the crash, according to the latest from the Associated Press.

Officials told reporters that 37 bodies had been removed from the crash site and taken to a nearby hospital, according to North Sumatra police chief Eko Hadi Sutedjo.

These estimates have been dramatically scaled up, as authorities said that as many as 113 individuals - some relatives of military personnel - were on-board.
"It looks like there are no survivors," Air Marshal Agus Supriatna told a local television crew.

Medan plane crash: Victims' families can't sue as they bought cheap tickets JAKARTA

(JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The families of victims on the ill-fated Hercules plane revealed on Thursday that they could not sue if anything happened to the plane because they had paid discounted prices for the flight tickets.

Tekti Pakpahan said that two of her family members who died in the plane crash paid 800,000 rupiah (S$80) each for the flights, rebuffing a previous official statement that the plane was not for commercial purposes.

"Probably the money was asked because they did not come from an Army officer's family. They took the flight because a friend, who is an Army officer, recommended them," Mr Tetdi said as quoted by tribunnews.com on Thursday.

Previously, Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Agus Supriyatna denied that Air Force planes were used for commercial purposes and said no civilians were allowed onboard except for Army families.
"If it (the practice) exists, prove it to me, so we can fire them (those responsible). Nothing is commercialised," he said.