A member of a search and rescue team holds parts of the wreckage of a helicopter that crashed, in Temanggung on July 3, 2017. (AFP Photo/STR)

The bodies have been recovered and identified.

  3 Juli 2017 11:22

Eight people were killed after a search and rescue helicopter crashed in Central Java, a senior official said Monday.

The Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency's helicopter was carrying four rescuers and four Navy crew when it crashed into a cliff in Temanggung on Sunday.

All eight bodies have been recovered from the crash site and identified, the head of the agency, Muhammad Syaugi, told AFP.

The chopper was on a mission to oversee the situation in Central Java, where a volcanic crater erupted at the Dieng Plateau on Sunday afternoon.

About five people were lightly injured when the Sileri crater spewed cold lava, ash and mud as high as 50 metres into the sky, with officials quick to deploy officers to clear the popular tourist area.

Syaugi said his agency and the national transportation safety committee will investigate the cause of the crash.

Agence France-Presse

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