Three children are reportedly on board a missing Aviastar flight in Indonesia along with seven others.

Transportation Ministry spokesman Julius Barata said the Twin Otter small plane lost contact Friday while on a flight in South Sulawesi province.

He said the plane lost radio contact about 30 minutes before it was expected to land in Makassar, the provincial capital.





It was carrying three crew and seven passengers, including three children, from Masamba in the same province.

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An official at Indonesia's flight safety agency also confirmed authorities had lost contact with the aircraft with ten people on board.

A rescue team has been sent to search for the plane, owned by the private Aviastar Mandiri airline.

Aviastar flies domestic routes.

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The plane went missing several hundred miles north of the search area for MH370.

In August an Indonesian flight went missing over Papua.

The Trigana Air Service jet was carrying more than 50 passengers, including five children and five crew members.

The next day rescuers found 53 bodies.

Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of nearly 250 million people, has been plagued by transportation accidents in recent years, including plane and train crashes and ferry sinkings.