"There should be no confusing information, no misleading news"
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has requested everyone not to spread any misleading or confusing information about the Sukhoi Superjet 100 air crash.

"There should be no confusing information, no misleading news," cautioned the president when he met with the air crash victims` families at the Halim Perdanakusuma air force base here on Friday.

Misleading information will distress the victims` families and affect the handling process of the accident, he explained.

The president urged everyone to pray for the safety of the ill-fated plane`s passengers and crew members. He added that the rescue efforts must be carried out optimally.

According to the president, the ongoing evacuation process is being hampered by bad weather and the steep and hilly terrain.

He could not confirm the cause of the air crash, saying that the investigation process is still underway.

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 took off from the Halim Perdanakusuma air force base in East Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon. It lost contact a few minutes later, while trying to descend from 10,000 feet to 6,000 feet near a small airport in Bogor on its way back to the airbase.

A search team spotted wreckage from the missing plane on the slopes of Mount Salak in Bogor regency, West Java, on Thursday morning.

The evacuation efforts were halted on Thursday afternoon due to bad weather, to be resumed on early Friday. Indonesian rescuers reached the crash site on Friday morning.

The plane - which was on a demonstration flight - was carrying 45 passengers, including 33 Indonesians, eight Russians, a Frenchman, a U.S. citizen and two Italians.

The Russian embassy in Jakarta, meanwhile, announced the arrival of a group of Russian experts from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, the Interstate Aviation Committee, the United Aircraft Corporation (JSC) and the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (SCA) in Jakarta to help in handling the accident, including the evacuation process and investigation into the crash.
(Uu.F001/INE/KR-BSR/O001)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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