Lion Air crash: Indonesian Aircraft goes down after Jakarta take-off

A Lion Air Boeing 737 passenger plane has come down after taking off from Jakarta, say Indonesian officials.

Flight JT-610 was on a scheduled flight from the Indonesian capital to Pangkal Pinang, the main city in the Bangka Belitung Islands.

It lost contact with ground control a few minutes after take-off, as it was crossing the sea.

It was not immediately clear how many people were on board the plane, a brand new Boeing 737 MAX 8.

Yusuf Latif, a spokesman for the national search and rescue agency told reporters: "It has been confirmed that it has crashed."

Airline Chief executive Edward Sirait earlier told Reuters: "We cannot give any comment at this moment. We are trying to collect all the information and data."

Indonesian media quoted a port official at Tanjung Priok as saying a tugboat had reported seeing plane debris in the water.

Suyadi, who uses only one name like many Indonesians, said other vessels were making their way to the site.