The main part of the rescue operation has concluded, Supriyatna confirmed, as cited by Indonesian news portal Detik.com, adding that several soldiers will continue the search for possible victims in the buildings damaged by the crashed plane.
So far, at least 141 bodies have been recovered from the crash site, according to local police. The exact number of those killed remains unclear.
The Indonesian military will publish the results of its investigation into Tuesday's military-transport plane crash in North Sumatra in about two weeks, local news portal Detik.com reported Thursday.
"[The decision regarding] the issue still requires time. But, of course, later we will publish [the results]," the portal quoted Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces Moeldoko as saying.
The four-engine military transport aircraft Hercules C-130B, produced in the 1960s by the American company Lockheed, crashed into a residential district in the southwestern part of Medan, the capital of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, about two minutes after it took-off from the Soewondo air base.
According the portal, just before the crash the pilot communicated with flight dispatchers about problems with the engine and the C-130B crashed while the pilot was turning it around to return to base. The Indonesian Air Force has banned other B-type Hercules planes from flying pending the investigation results.
