JAKARTA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A cargo plane with three people aboard went missing in Papua in easternmost Indonesia, Director for Air Transport of Indonesian Transport Ministry Herri Bhakti said here Tuesday.

    The director said the plane lost contact on Monday. It was scheduled to arrive at Wamena Airport at 4 p.m. after departing from Dekkay town of Papua.

    "Rescuers predict that the plane was now at few miles of Wamena," Bhakti told Xinhua over phone, without telling whether the plane crashed or made an emergency landing.

    The rugged terrain hindered the rescuers' efforts, Bhakti said.

    The accident came when the country expects a lifting of travel ban, which has been imposed since July 6, 2007 following a rampant air accident, from the European Union after July.