International Desk: 56 passengers in an Indonesian Boeing 737 aircraft were reported missing within minutes of take off.

The plane took off from the capital Jakarta at 2:37 a.m. local time on Saturday. It disappeared at 2:40 p.m., four minutes after takeoff. News from AFP and Al Jazeera.

According to the AFP news agency, citing the Indonesian Ministry of Transport, Indonesia's Sriuijaya Air has been missing immidiate after the take off. The plane was en route to Pontianak in the eastern state of Kalimantan.

According to Al Jazeera reports that according to data tracking and registration information the plane is a 27-year-old Boeing 737-500.

Jakarta-based TV channel Metro TV quoted Turkish daily Sabah as saying that the National Search and Rescue Agency and the National Transportation Safety Committee had already launched an investigation.

Witnesses said they have heard explosion. A fisherman named Solihin said BBC ""The plane fell like lightning into the sea and exploded in the water,"

The Transport Ministry said that the search and rescue opperations were underway.