The number of deaths has risen to 50 people after the Philippine Air Force plane crashed
with 96 people on board.
The C-130 Philippine Air Force aircraft with 96 people on board. crashed in Sulu, Philippines on Sunday. An investigation has been directed into the crash on Sunday, July 4.
The aircraft had attempted to land at Jolo Airport but overshot the runway without touching down and failed to regain enough power and height and crashed at the nearby town of Patikul. On Monday military officials confirmed 50 people were killed in the crash, including 47 military personnel and three civilians. A total of 49 military personnel and four civilians were also injured.
“A number of soldiers were seen jumping out of the aircraft before it hit the ground, sparing them from the explosion caused by the crash,” the Joint Task Force Sulu said in a statement. At the site of the smoking flames, residents gathered in horror. First responders work at the site to rescue the remaining people trapped and identifying the bodies.
The military command said the soldiers aboard had the rank of private and were being deployed to their battalions. They were flying to the provincial airport of Jolo from Laguindingan, about 460 km (290 miles) to the northeast.
The army has been fighting a prolonged war against Islamist militants from Abu Sayyaf and other factions.
“They were supposed to join us in our fight against terrorism,” said Commander William N. Gonzales of Joint Task Force Sulu.
Jolo airport has a 1,200-metre runway that normally takes civilian turboprop flights though occasionally some military flights, according to a Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesperson.
Jolo island, part of the Sulu archipelago, is about 950 km (600 miles) south of the capital, Manila.
This is said to be the country’s worst military air disaster in nearly 30 years. The country’s worst plane crash was that of an Air Philippines Boeing 737 in 2000, which killed 131 people.