Passenger of Indonesia's crashed chopper found alive

Two days after an Indonesian helicopter crashed in a lake in North Sumatra, one of its passenger was found alive on Tuesday, a spokesman of the national search and rescue agency said.

According to the survivor named Fransiskus Subihardayan, the light single-engine Eurocopter EC130 fell into the volcanic Lake Toba on Sunday, Xinhua quoted Zainul Tjahar, spokesman of the national search and rescue agency, as saying.

"As they felt there was something wrong with the chopper, the man and four other people aboard jumped when it was passing through the lake," the spokesman said.

"The rescuers found the man around 12.00 o'clock (local time) on Tuesday. He was floating among the water hyacinths. The wreckage of the chopper and four other persons are still being searched," he added.

The man was found conscious but in weak condition, he was immediately rushed to a hospital, said Tjahar.

The chartered helicopter operated by PT Penerbangan Angkasa Semesta lost communication with North Sumatra air traffic control about 17 minutes after taking off from the airport in Samosir island.

The chopper was heading toward Kulanamu airport in Medan, the capital city of North Sumatra.

Lake Toba, largest volcanic lake in the world, lies amid volcanoes in North Sumatra.