An Indonesian police plane with 13 people on board lost contact during a flight Saturday to the island of Batam near Singapore, authorities were quoted by ABC news as saying.

The plane, with five crew members and eight passengers, dropped out of contact in the morning about 50 minutes after taking off from Bangka island off the southeast coast of Sumatra island, a police statement said.

National Search and Rescue Agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo said rescuers were searching seas between Mensanak and Sebangka islands.

He said villagers had found a seat and a bag containing a cellphone and police documents.

Source: MENA