A Lion Air flight with 188 passengers and crew on board crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff from Jakarta, Indonesia’s disaster agency said.
Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho posted photos of debris on Twitter, including a crushed smartphone, books, bags and parts of the aircraft fuselage that had been collected by search and rescue vessels.
Nugroho said the flight was carrying 181 passengers, including one child and two babies, and seven crew members.
The Lion Air Flight JT610 took off at about 6.20 a.m. local time and was due to land in the capital of the Bangka-Belitung tin mining region at 7.20 a.m., according to Flightradar 24 website.
The accident is the first reported that involves a Boeing 737 MAX, an updated, widely-sold aircraft that is more fuel-efficient.
The plane maker said on a tweet that it was aware of an airplane accident and was “closely monitoring” the situation.
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