Passenger plane of Indonesia's Lion Air crashes shortly after take-off

JAKARTA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- A passenger plane of Indonesia's Lion Air crashed shortly after taking off from Jakarta international airport on Monday, local media quoted the country's search and rescue agency as saying.

Yusuf Latif from Basarnas, the national search and rescue agency, was quoted as saying that the JT 610 bound for Pangkal Pinang has crashed.

Meanwhile, spokesman of the transport ministry Bambang Ervan told Xinhua over phone that the plane has lost contact in western parts of Indonesia.

The number of passengers and crew onboard the Boeing 737 aircraft is not immediately known.