A plane with 48 people aboard skidded off the runway in Indonesia’s remote eastern region of Papua on Monday, police said, injuring several passengers.

The Southeast Asian archipelago has a poor aviation safety record, and Papua is covered in mountainous terrain where flying is hampered by frequent poor weather.

The ATR-42 aircraft belonging to Trigana Air was taking off from an airport in the remote Yapen Islands regency to Papuan capital Jayapura on Monday morning when it skidded off the runway.

The flight was carrying 42 passengers, including a baby, and six crew.

“Praise God everybody survived and has been taken to a hospital for a health checkup,” local police chief Ardyan Ukie Hercahyo said in a statement.

“We are investigating the incident and coordinating with related parties to ensure this will never happen again.”

The local search and rescue agency said in a statement that some passengers were injured and traumatised by the incident.

Indonesia relies heavily on air transport to connect its thousands of islands, but Papua is a particularly difficult area to reach.

In 2015, a Trigana Air plane crashed there, killing all 54 people on board.

AFP