Philippines plane crash: Nine killed after medical evacuation aircraft crashes into resort and bursts into flames

Rebecca Speare-Cole1 September 2019

All nine people on board a small medical evacuation plane were killed after it crashed into a resort in the Philippines and exploded into flames.

The light plane crashed into a resort compound in Pansol village in Laguna province near the foothills of Mount Makiling on Sunday.

Rescuers retrieved nine bodies from the wreckage, police said.

Two people on the ground were injured and brought to a hospital.

Funeral parlor employees carry a stretcher with one of the bodies of the passengers of the plane that crashed into a resort area south of Manila.
AFP/Getty Images

Eric Apolonio, a spokesman of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, said the light plane was on a medical evacuation flight from southern Dipolog city in Zamboanga del Norte province.

It disappeared from radar for unknown reasons as it flew over Laguna, about 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of the capital, he said. The plane was supposed to land in Manila.

The nine on board the plane included two pilots, two nurses, a doctor, a patient, the patient's wife and two other people, police said.

Videos posted online by witnesses showed flames and black smoke billowing from the private resort compound in Pansol, a district popular for its hot springs and swimming pools.

Firefighters and an ambulance can be seen near the scene of the crash as local officials asked villagers to step back to a safe distance.

The crash happened during the monsoon season, when fewer people visit Pansol's resorts compared to the hot summer months that ended in June.

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