An Indonesian military plane with 18 people on board, including three foreigners, has gone missing on a flight from Jakarta to West Java.

It was flying from the capital to Bogor on Thursday, carrying 12 military personnel and six civilians.

The foreigners are reported to be a Briton, an Indian and a Singaporean.

The Casa-212 aircraft was due to test a digital mapping camera, but an air force spokesman said it was assumed it had crashed.

The air force said a search was under way in the Salak Mountain region, about 90km (60 miles south) of Jakarta, with three planes and some 40 people on the ground involved.

But "nothing has been found yet", said air force spokesman Chaeruddin Ray.

Rescue coordinator Hadi Tugiman blamed the terrain and the weather conditions.

"The jungle is quite thick and the weather is so foggy that it's making the search difficult," he told the AFP news agency.

Indonesia has seen a series of air crashes, and its poor safety record has led to all Indonesian airlines being banned from flying to European Union countries.     

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Indonesian plane

BBC