New info emerges as Kiwi pilot held hostage by rebels in Indonesia’s Papua region

An image reportedly of the wreckage of the plane in West Papua. Photo / Twitter/Partaisocmed

A group of construction workers have been rescued amid the search for a New Zealand pilot who was taken hostage by a rebel group in Indonesia.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins assured NZ embassy officials were “on the case” on Wednesday after Captain Philip Mark Mehrtens was taken hostage after landing at a remote airport on Tuesday in Nduga in Indonesia’s West Papua province, on the island of New Guinea.

Mehrtens was flying for Indonesian airline Susi Air and had five passengers on board, who are believed to have been freed.

The West Papuan National Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened to kill the pilot if the government in Jakarta did not recognise the independence of West Papua – which refers to the western side of the island of New Guinea.

The West Papuan National Liberation Army’s Sebby Sambom. Photo / Supplied

“We want to convey that we have taken this pilot hostage and brought it to the TPNPB headquarters which is far from the airfield area,” a spokesman for the group, Sebby Sambom, told The Australian in a statement.

“This pilot is a citizen of New Zealand. TPNPB considers New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, America, Europe, all are responsible.

“The US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand has supported the Indonesian government, trained the Indonesian National Police, and supplied weapons to kill us West Papuans from 1963 to today. They must be held accountable.”

On Wednesday, Indonesian security forces rescued 15 construction workers who had come from other Indonesian islands to build a health centre in the area, Associated Press reported.

It reported that regional military commander Brigadier General J.O. Sembiring said the workers had been hiding out in a priest’s house since Saturday after the rebel group threatened to kill them.

There has been no update on the pilot, who is reportedly from Christchurch.

Hipkins told RNZ on Wednesday morning: “I’m aware of the case. I don’t have full details of it … I’m aware that the New Zealand embassy is working on the case.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular support to the pilot’s family and said it wouldn’t comment further because of privacy reasons, the Herald reported.

Jeremy Rumi, district manager for Susi Air, told the Australian the plane took off from Mozes Kilangin Airport in Mimika, in Central Papua, for Paro Airport in Nduga before dawn on Tuesday but lost contact after it landed at 6.17am.

Susi Air founder and former Indonesian fisheries minister Susi Pudjiastuti asked for prayers and support, writing on Twitter that she hoped they would be able to pick their pilot up safely.

Images from the airstrip where the plane landed appeared to show smoke rising from the wreckage and it is being investigated whether it was set on fire.