Bad weather is hampering efforts to evacuate 13 people who died in an MI-17 helicopter crash in Malinau regency, North Kalimantan.

Head of Tulungagung district military command (Kodim) Lt. Col. Inf. M. Yamin Dano said on Sunday that the searching and evacuation process of the 13 crash victims was temporarily halted.

However, he added, the evacuation team was still prepared and on standby in Tarakan City, the evacuation process was hampered by heavy rain that has been ongoing since last night.

'We are waiting for the weather condition to improve,' said Yamin in Malinau on Sunday as quoted by Antara news agency.

He further explained that thick rain in Long Apung had hampered efforts to evacuate 13 victims that comprised of four National Military personnel and nine civilians.

According to Yamin, as of 10:30 a.m. local time, the Russian-manufactured helicopter had crashed into a thick forest, making it possible for the team to evacuate the victims only by air.

'We keep monitoring the weather condition and hopefully, the condition will immediately improve so that we can continue our evacuation process,' said Yamin.

The military helicopter, which brought logistics and construction materials, six military personnel and 13 civilians was deployed to build an Indonesia-Malaysia border post in the area and crashed around10:30 a.m. local time, on Saturday, after it lost contact with tower control.

Six passengers surviving the incident are two military personnel ' First Sgt. Joko and Chief Pvt. Simburian ' and four civilians: Albert, Densem Njuk, Ferdi, and Mendan. (ebf)

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