Philippine Military Plane Crashes, Killing Dozens

MANILA—A Philippine air power C-a hundred thirty plane carrying combat troops assigned to fight Muslim militants crashed and exploded while landing in the south Sunday, killing at the very least forty two army soldiers on board and three civilians on the ground in a single of the worst disasters in the air force’s heritage.

At the very least 49 other soldiers were being rescued with accidents and survived the fiery noontime crash into a coconut grove outside the Jolo airport in Sulu province, such as some who managed to jump off the plane just before it exploded and was gutted by fireplace, military services officers claimed. 3 of seven villagers who were being hit on the ground died.

The plane experienced 96 folks on board, such as three pilots and 5 crew while the rest were being army staff, the military services claimed, including that 5 soldiers remained unaccounted for late Sunday. The pilots survived but were being severely wounded, officers claimed.

The Lockheed C-a hundred thirty Hercules was a single of two ex-U.S. Air Pressure plane handed over to the Philippines as aspect of military services support this 12 months.

The plane at first took off from Manila with only a several passengers, such as a two-star army standard, Romeo Brawner Jr., who disembarked with his wife and three small children in Cagayan de Oro metropolis, where by he is established to turn into the new military services regional commander on Monday. The army troops then boarded the C-a hundred thirty in Cagayan de Oro for the flight to Sulu.