Jakarta: Lion Air flight from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang has crashed, as news agency Reuters reported. Indonesia energy firm Pertamina official said that debris, including plane seats, found near its offshore facility in Java sea. Indonesia transport ministry official said crashed Lion Air flight was carrying 188 people, including crew.

It had gone missing 13 minutes after take-off .The Indonesian authorities have started a search and rescue operation for the missing Lion Air plane. It lost contact with air traffic controllers (ATC) at about 6.33 am today, as The Straits Times reported.

Indonesian search and rescue agencies cited to news agency Reuters that the passenger flight has crashed into the sea. "It has been confirmed that it has crashed," Yusuf Latif, the agency's talking head was quoted as saying by Reuters. According to multiple reports, the plane lost contact with the Air Traffic Control within 13 minutes after take-off. The Boeing 737 MAX 8- Reuters said, citing Flightradar24.

The path of the flight showed no progress further than 13 minutes, on flightradar24, a website that tracks movements of flights across the globe said.

While the number of people on-board the flight could not be find out at the time of the report, a very big search operation has been launched to locate the plane. "We cannot give any comment at this moment," Edward Strait, Chief executive of Lion Air Group was quoted by Reuters as asserting.

According to News.com.au reports, the jet with a seating capacity of 210 disappeared near Karawang in West Java Province.