REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - A government official said a light aircraft had crashed in bad weather in eastern Indonesia and burst into flames, killing four people on board.

Transport ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said the Piper PA-34 Seneca owned by Intan Angkasa Air took off Sunday from Sentani town in Papua province and crashed into a paddy field near a housing complex in Tual on the Maluku Islands. There were four Indonesian crew members aboard.

Ervan said a pilot, a technician and two staffers of the company were on their way to Surabaya city on the country's main island of Java for a routine inspection of the plane. He said the cause of the crash was not immediately known, but the plane was landing to refuel at Tual airport during heavy downpours.

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