The C-130 Hercules, carrying military personnel and their families, went down in Indonesia's third-largest city of Medan, striking a building. Witness accounts suggested the plane suffered an engine fire before crashing.

Air force spokesman Rear Marshal Dwi Badarmanto said 74 bodies were recovered. About 30 of the dead were identified and included air force personnel and relatives, he added.

Air force officials said more than 100 people may have been on the C-130, but there was little hope of finding survivors. It is unclear how many people on the ground were killed.

The crash of the transport plane, which had been in service since 1964, occurred only two minutes after it took off from Soewondo air force base around midday.