"We have to temporarily close the airport until the evacuation work is completed. Heavy machinery is being used to drag the plane on to the runway," head of the airport Junikar Pakondo said over the phone.

The aircraft, flown by Captain Hadi and co-pilot Monangka on a flight from Sentani, was about to land when it veered to the left off the runway on to the grass. The aircraft's nose wheel broke off in the incident. The plane came to a stop 150 meters from the runway; its propellers were also damaged.

Due to the closure, Papua Police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw was forced to delay his departure to Wamena to investigate communal clashes in Nduga, Wamena, on Thursday, which left four people dead and 23 injured.

"He will leave as soon as the removal of the skidded plane is completed," Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. I Gede Sumerta said.

This latest incident has brought the number of accidents at Wamena to three so far this month. The other two accidents were on May 8, when a

cargo plane owned by PT Trigana Airways caught fire and on May 20 when another plane belonging to Trigana skidded off the runway.

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