Plane carrying 54 goes missing over Indonesia’s Papua

A passenger plane carrying 54 people went missing in Indonesia's eastern province of Papua on Sunday, an official said.

The ATR 42 aircraft operated by local carrier Trigana Air disappeared from the radar at 2.55 pm local time (0555 GMT) while on a 55-minute flight from the provincial capital Jayapura to Oksibil, said Transport Ministry spokesman Julius Barata. 

It was carrying 49 passengers, including five children, and five crew members, he said. 

"Difficult terrain and bad weather are making the search difficult," he said. 

Papua relies on air transport because of limited road networks through its jungle.