Bodies found at wreckage site

The debris was located on a mountainside south of the capital, Jakarta.

Rescue workers discovered bodies at the wreckage of the Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 on Mount Salak, an eroded volcano in West Java, on Thursday afternoon. All 45 passengers were feared dead.

"We haven't found any survivors," said Gagah Prakoso, spokesman for the national search and rescue agency.

"I cannot say anything about the condition of the bodies," he said, adding: "A high speed jet plane hit the cliff, exploded and tore apart."

The plane, the newest major aircraft to be produced by the Russian aerospace industry, had been on a demonstration flight. It was carrying potential buyers, diplomats and journalists. Thirty-five of the passengers were Indonesian.

The aircraft took off from an airport in Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon and disappeared from radar screens 21 minutes later. It was flying to the south of the capital in light rain at the time.

Rescuers in a helicopter spotted the wreckage on the remote volcano 300 kilometers (187 miles) from Jakarta on Wednesday.

The aircraft was designed to carry between 75 and 95 passengers on medium-haul routes. As Russia's first new passenger jet since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Superjet 100 has been viewed as the country's best hope of carving out a niche in the lucrative passenger plane market.

ncy/mz (AP, AFP, dpa)