Rescuers found the wreckage of an Indonesian jetliner that crashed into a remote mountainous region during stormy weather, killing at least 90 people, aviation officials said Tuesday, clinging on to fading hopes that a dozen others survived, REPORTED AP. Bodies and debris were scattered over 300 meters (yards) of jungle and jagged cliff on Sulawesi island's west coast, said Lt. Col. Firdaus, an air force officer who goes by only one name. The Adam Air Boeing 737 sent out two distress signals before crashing Monday half way through its two-hour flight from Indonesia's main island of Java to Sulawesi, in the northeast of the sprawling archipelago. Rescue and search teams hiked through heavy rain and slippery forest paths for four hours Tuesday before reaching the plane's wreckage. A spokesman for the airline said earlier that 12 people had survived. However, Firdaus and other officials disputed that, saying they remained unaccounted for. Local villagers and soldiers were searching for them. «I hope the people are alive, but so far there is no clear information about that,» said national aviation chief Ichsan Tatang. The accident followed weeks of seasonal rains and high winds in Indonesia that have caused deadly floods, landslides and maritime accidents _ including the sinking of a ferry in the Java Sea late Friday that killed or left missing around 400 people. Firdaus and other aviation officials said 90 bodies were found. Three of the 102 on board were American citizens, the U.S. Embassy said, but it was not clear if they were among the dead. There were no other known foreigners on board. Hundreds of people gathered at Manado airport, the aircraft's destination. Some collapsed when they learned about the high death toll, while others angrily banged on the door of the Adam Air office there, demanding information, witnesses said.
