Plane Skids Off The Runway And Plunges into Water Close to Bali Airport

 A plane with more than 100 people on board has overshot a runway on the island of Bali and plunged into the sea.

Despite dramatic pictures showing the Lion Air jet with a broken fuselage, officials said everyone on board had survived.

The brand new Boeing 737-800 came to rest in shallow water and bright yellow life jackets could be seen littering the shore.

Passengers spoke of screaming in terror it hit the water and "chaos" erupting amid fears they would drown before escaping.

"There was no sign at all it would fall but then suddenly it dropped into the water," Tantri Widiastuti, 60, told Metro TV.

Dewi, who suffered head wounds, added: "The aircraft was in landing position when suddenly I saw it getting closer to the sea, and finally it hit the water.

"All of the passengers were screaming in panic in fear they would drown. I left behind my belongings and went to an emergency door. I got out of the plane and swam before rescuers jumped in to help me."

Passengers in life jackets could be seen in the water as police in rubber dinghies rowed out from the shore.

Lion Air said there were 95 adults, five children and a baby on board - as well as seven crew. They included three foreigners - a Frenchman, a Singaporean woman and a Singaporean man.

Bali police chief Arif Wahyunadi told local TV One that everyone had been evacuated and taken inside Denpasar airport.

He said the jet had flown in from Bandung, the capital of West Java province.

Some 40 people were treated for injuries including broken legs, head wounds and shock, though only four were admitted to hospital, officials said.

Ignatius Juan Sinduk, 45, was treated for breathing difficulties after his chest was injured in the crash.

Speaking from his hospital bed, he said: "The plane plunged into the sea at high speed. Everybody screamed and water suddenly surged into the plane.

"Passengers panicked and scrambled for life jackets. Some passengers fell, some ran into others, it was chaos. I managed to grab one (a lifejacket) and slowly swam out of the plane and to the shore."

The twin-engined aircraft was operated by local carrier Lion Air, a budget airline whose operating base is in Bandung.

Company spokesman Edward Sirait said the jet had been delivered to Lion Air in Indonesia on March 18 and had come "straight from the factory".

It started operations a week later and the pilot had been flying for the airline for six years.

He refused to comment on the possible cause of the crash but said: "The plane broke into two pieces," adding that "judging from visual observation, the plane cannot be used any more."

Lion Air - the first private airline in Indonesia - was founded in 1999 by multi-millionaire brothers Kusnan and Rusdi Kirana.

It started operating in 2000 with just one aircraft in its fleet but quickly expanded operations to more than 36 locations across the sprawling archiplego nation.

The airline also flies to foreign locations, including Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam, and uses a fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft.

Last month, it signed a $24bn (£18bn) deal with Airbus for 234 passenger jets and two years ago, it signed a contract with Boeing for 230 planes.

However, the rapidly-expanding carrier is reportedly banned from US and European airspace due to safety concerns.

Between 2004 and 2006, Lion Air suffered a series of six accidents, which all involved planes overshooting or missing the runway, although no-one died in those incidents.