Indonesian rescuers were looking for more bodies on Thursday in the charred wreckage of a military plane after more than 100 people died when the aircraft crashed in East Java a day earlier, an official said.

The C-130 Hercules aircraft carrying military personnel and their families struck several homes on the ground, bursting into flames and scattering debris across a wide area, in the latest of a series of disasters in a country with a poor air safety record.

Air force spokesman Bambang Sulistyo said 101 people had died, including two villagers on the ground at the crash site, while 15 were injured. Another air force official said that rescuers were still trying to retrieve more bodies.

"It's estimated that there are still three stuck inside the plane wreckage," said Major Sutrisno, who goes by one name like many Indonesians, adding that the number of passengers on the plane was now put at 112, up from 110 estimated earlier.

Authorities were also examining whether the number of passengers could have been even higher, he said. Passengers are frequently not documented in Indonesia's over-burdened transport system.

The condition of the 15 in hospital was described as stable by Rustam Pakaya of the health ministry's crisis centre.

Sutrisno said that investigators had not yet found anything pointing towards a possible cause of the crash.

"On the condition of the plane, it was fit to fly and the weather was clear. It was all fine," he said.

A military plane carrying 13 bodies and relatives of victims had left Magetan on Thursday morning to fly to Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua for burial, Elshinta radio reported.

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