INDONESIA: At least 23 people died and more than 119 were injured when a plane burst into flames as it landed on Java Island today.

The jet, which had more than 140 people on board, including 10 Australian journalists and diplomatic staff, overshot the runway of Yogyakarta airport and hit fences before slamming into a rice field.

Survivors said the fire began at the front of the Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737-400.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has appointed his security minister to probe possible "non-technical" causes, a spokesman said, in an apparent reference to sabotage.

Survivor and local Islamic leader Dien Syamsudin said: "Before the plane landed it was shaking. Suddenly there was smoke inside the fuselage, it hit the runway and then it landed in a rice field.

"I saw a foreigner. His clothes were on fire and I jumped from the emergency exit. Thank God I survived."

Another passenger Muhammad Dimyati said: "We overshot the runway, then I heard the sound of an explosion and ran through an emergency exit. I believe many passengers remained trapped on board."

Australian prime minister John Howard said: "It is a terrible tragedy. Many lives have been lost and our condolences go to those who are suffering distress and grief.

"We should be prepared for bad news in relation to at least some of the Australians on board."

Howard added he had no indication the fire was caused by foul play.

He said: "I have not received any advice suggesting it was other than a tragic accident."

The Australians were heading to Yogyakarta for a visit there by foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer, who was in Indonesia for an anti- terror conference. He was not on board the jet which had earlier left Jakarta.

Around two hours after the accident firefighters put out the blaze, which had gutted the plane.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on its website that Cynthia Banham, the paper's Canberra-based diplomatic and defence reporter, was among the injured survivors.

The paper's Indonesia correspondent Mark Forbes told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio she was in intensive care with serious burns and other injuries.

The identity of other Australians reportedly involved was not confirmed.