A passenger airliner with 188 people on board has crashed in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, into the sea shortly after taking off. Indonesia rescue teams reportedly continue to search the wreckage of the plane.

The plane, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, belong to Lion Air Company, was on a scheduled flight to Pangkal Pinang, the main town in the Bangka Belitung Islands.

The plane reportedly lost contact with ground control 13 minutes after take-off and is believed to have ended up underwater.

At an earlier news conference, officials said that there are 178 adults, one infant, and two babies, as well as two pilots and five-cabin crew on the board.

There is no information so far about the cause of the crash while there has been no word yet of any survivors.

ILKHA