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Officials said a Philippine military plane carrying troops crashed and caught fire after missing the runway in the south of the country, killing at least 17 people and injuring 40 others.
At around noon on Sunday, when the C-130 Hercules transport plane attempted to land on Jolo Island in Sulu province, there were 92 people on board, most of whom were newly graduated troops.
Defense Minister Delfin Lorenzana said in a statement: “So far, 40 wounded have been rescued and 17 bodies have been found.”
The photos taken by local media Pondohan TV and posted on Facebook showed that the body of the plane crash was engulfed in flames. A thick black smoke rose above the houses near the crash site.
General Cirilito Sobejana, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said the plane missed the runway while trying to land on Jolo Island, when it was carrying troops from Cagayan de Oro in southern Mindanao.
He told local media that the plane tried to “regain power but was unsuccessful”, calling the accident “very unfortunate.”
“Respondents are on the scene now. We pray that we can save more lives,” Sobejana told AFP.
Sobejana said 40 people rescued from the wreckage are being treated at the nearby 11th Infantry Division Hospital.
Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Maynard Mariano said that the cause of the crash will be investigated. “We are now in rescue mode,” Mariano told AFP.
Major General Edgar De Arevalo, a spokesman for the armed forces, told DZBB radio that the incident was regarded as an accident rather than an attack.
Lieutenant Jerica Angela Manondo told AFP that the four-engine plane crashed near a quarry in a sparsely populated area, adding that the rescue operation had been completed.
Lieutenant General Corleto Vinluan, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, told AFP that preliminary reports stated that the plane flew off the landing strip and split into two parts.
Most passengers have recently graduated from basic military training and are deployed to this turbulent island as part of a joint task force against terrorism in a Muslim-majority area.
The army has a large presence in the south Philippines Radical organizations including the kidnapping and extortion organization Abu Sayyaf are active here.
The C-130 aircraft is the workhorse of the Air Force, used to transport troops and supplies. They have also been deployed to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
The crash was one of the deadliest military aviation accidents in the country.
Senator Richard Gordon said this is the fourth time there have been “mass casualties” this year. “Are we using people’s money to buy defective crafts?” He tweeted.
Sunday’s accident occurred when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a night training flight last month, killing all six people on board. When their S70-i crashed near Crow Valley training ground north of Manila, three pilots and three pilots died, prompting the grounding of the entire fleet.
The country has ordered 16 multi-purpose aircraft from a Polish company that has obtained a license from the Sikorsky division of the US defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin. Since the end of 2020, 11 have been delivered.
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