Indonesian villagers say they have found the wreckage of a plane that disappeared with 54 people on board in the province of Papua.

Trigana flight IL267 failed to arrive in Oksibil from Sentani as scheduled after contact was lost 33 minutes after take-off.

The internal journey would normally take 45 minutes.

A Transport Ministry official has now confirmed the plane has been found.

Villagers reported earlier that a plane had crashed into a mountain in Okbape, which is 15 miles west of Oksibil.

The aircraft, with 44 adults, five children and five crew on board, was due to arrive at 3.16pm local time (7.16am Irish time).

The search was suspended due to nightfall, but 150 local rescuers reportedly made their way to the scene.

The ATR-42 plane was built in France and Italy.

The Aviation Safety Network claims the plane is 27 years old and Trigana has had 14 serious incidents since it began operating in 1991, writing off 10 aircraft.

In 2009, a Merpati flight also went missing on Jayapura-Oksibil route. It had crashed into a mountain and was discovered after two days.

The latest incident comes eight months after an AirAsia plane crashed on its way from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore, killing all 162 people on board.

This prompted the Indonesian government to impose new regulations to improve safety.

The Trigana Air Service is one of many Indonesian airlines banned from operating in the European Union for safety reasons.