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Indonesian rescuers find a body near wreckage of a plane that crashed with 11 aboard

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian rescuers on Sunday recovered a body in their search for 11 people aboard a plane that crashed while approaching a mountainous region on Sulawesi island.

The body of a man was retrieved from a ravine about 200 meters (656 feet) deep on the slope of Mount Bulusaraung, near scattered aircraft debris, said Muhammad Arif Anwar, who heads Makassar’s Search and Rescue Office.

Teams also found additional wreckage, including parts of the aircraft frame and passenger seats, and visually identified what is believed to be the engine of the turboprop ATR 42-500 that crashed on Saturday afternoon, Anwar said.

The plane, operated by Indonesia Air Transport, was on its way from Yogyakarta on Indonesia’s main island of Java to Makassar, the capital city of South Sulawesi province, when it vanished from radar shortly after being instructed by air traffic control to correct its approach alignment.

The plane was carrying eight crew members and three passengers from the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry who were aboard as part of an airborne maritime surveillance mission.

Strong winds, heavy fog and steep rugged terrain have slowed the search, said Maj. Gen. Bangun Nawoko, the South Sulawesi’s military commander. He said that visibility at the summit was about 5 meters (16 miles).

Rescuers spotted additional bodies lying along a steep cliff, but haven’t been able to reach them yet, said Brig. Gen. Andre Clift Rumbayan, who leads the specialized search units.

The search was halted as darkness fell Sunday and was to resume on Monday morning.

Indonesia relies heavily on air transport and ferries to connect its more than 17,000 islands. The Southeast Asian country has been plagued by transportation accidents in recent years, from plane and bus crashes to ferry sinkings.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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