Indonesian Air Force aircraft Hercules C-130 crashed in a residential area in Medan, killing 20 people and leaving the city devastated with crumpled vehicles and destroyed buildings.

Adam Malik Hospital took in the 20 bodies and are treating two people from the neighborhood in critical condition, according to some sources, but the Bangkok Post reports 38 bodies have been taken to the hospital.

It remains unclear how many people were in the plane when it crashed. Air Force Operations Commander Agus Dwi Putranto told a local television channel that there were 12 crew members, according to the Bankok Post.

The plane crashed in a newly-constructed residential area and officials have yet to find out if anybody was in the building when the crash took place. "The bodies have been crushed by debris of the buildings and the fuselage," said local police chief Mardiaz Dwihananto, according to Jakarta Post.

The plane took off 12:08 p.m. (0508 GMT) from an air force base and crashed in the city about two minutes later, about five kilometres (three miles) from the base, he said, Asia One News reports.

This is not the first time that a plane crashed into the city of Medan. In September 2005, a Mandala Airlines Boeing 737 crashed a few minutes after take-off at Medan's Polonia airport, and crashed into a residential community, killing 143 people including 30 on the ground, according to Bankok Post.