An Indonesian Boeing 737 with more than 50 passengers on board has gone missing within minutes of takeoff

• An Indonesian flight carrying more than 50 passengers has lost contact within four minutes after taking off from Jakarta, according to flight tracker website FlightRadar24.
• Sriwijaya Air flight #SJ182 had been flying to Pontianak in Borneo, Indonesia, around 740km from Soekarno-Hatta Airport.
• The Boeing 737-500 lost more than 10,000ft of altitude in under a minute and an ADS-B signal was lost at 2:37 p.m. local time.

A passenger plane departing from Jakarta, Indonesia, on Saturday has lost contact within four minutes of taking off, according to the flight tracker website FlightRadar24.

The Indonesian Sriwijaya Air flight #SJ182 was reportedly carrying 56 passengers and six crew members.

There were thought to be 50 passengers - including seven children and three babies - and 12 crew on board, though this number has not been confirmed by officials.

The 27-year-old plane was a Boeing 737-500, which is not the same as the controversial Boeing 737 Max model involved in two major crashes in recent years.

Search and rescue operations are currently underway. Pictures and videos of what seemed to be aircraft debris have appeared on social media.

Several residents of a nearby island told the BBC they had found objects they thought were from the plane.

One local fisherman said he had witnessed a crash, and that the plane "fell like lightning into the sea and exploded in the water," according to the BBC.

"It was pretty close to us, the shards of a kind of plywood almost hit my ship," the fisherman, who goes by the name of Solihin, said.

—Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 9, 2021

The Sriwijaya Air flight had been flying to Pontianak in Borneo, around 740km from Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta Airport.

It lost more than 10,000ft of altitude in under a minute, with signal lost at 2.37 p.m local time.

Sriwijaya Air said in a statement it was still gathering more detailed information about the flight.

"A Sriwijaya (Air) plane from Jakarta to Pontianak (on Borneo island) with call sign SJY182 has lost contact," said Adita Irawati, a transport ministry spokesman, according to the Guardian.

Sriwijaya Air is Indonesia's third-largest airline, listed as a "Category 1" airline, which is the country's highest safety rating.

In October 2018, an Indonesian Lion Air flight plunged into the sea about 12 minutes after take-off from Jakarta, killing 189 people.

This is a breaking news story and more information will be added as it becomes available.