Jakarta - A small plane crashed Friday in Indonesia's Papua province, but the fate of the 11 people on board was unknown, the state Antara news agency reported.

The plane was travelling from Ilaga to Mulia district when it crashed in a mountainous area, Antara said.

Among the nine passengers were officials of the local election commission and two children, the news agency said.

Police and officials could not be reached immediately for comment.

Hanock Ibo, deputy district head of Puncak Jaya, told Antara that bad weather was hampering efforts to reach the wreckage of the plane.

Ibo said a pilot of another plane that passed over the area had seen shiny objects that could have been the remains of the plane.

Six people were killed on April 9 when a cargo plane carrying food supplies crashed in poor weather in Papua's Wamena district.

Jungle-clad Papua relies on air transport owing to its limited road networks.(dpa)