Shortly after landing at Adisutjipto airport at around 7:00 AM local time, a Garuda Boeing 737-400 carrying 140 passengers and crew was engulfed by flames.

 

Emergency teams rushed to the scene but Indonesian Transportation Minister Hatta Radjasa announced that 23 people had tragically died in the accident at a press conference in Yogyakarta .  

 

Some 92 people were also injured in the tragedy, with 27 escaping unscathed who were able to return home although they will need to report to the airport's command post, according to the airport's spokesman, Ary Subagya.

 

The bodies of the victims were being kept at Dr Sardjito hospital pending formal identification by forensic specialists.

 

A joint investigation team has been started by the government in collaboration with an Australian team since the victims included Australians and other foreigners, announced Radjasa.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 8, 2007)