Death Toll from Philippine Air Force Plane Crash Rises To 50

By Staff, Agencies

The death toll from a Philippine Air Force plane crash on Sunday in the southern Philippines raised to fifty.

The accident is the country's worst military air disaster in decades.

The C-130 military plane was transporting troops from Cagayan de Oro, in Mindanao, to Sulu province when it missed the runway on the island of Jolo, according to Armed Forces Chief Cirilito Sobejana.

The plane, which was carrying 96 military personnel and crew, crashed into nearby Patikul village at 11:30 a.m. local time on Sunday [11:30 p.m. ET].

"Minutes after the crash, troops and civilian volunteers rushed to the site for search and rescue. Per eyewitnesses, 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," according to a press release by Joint Task Force Sulu.

All victims have now been accounted for. Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, a spokesman for the military, said 47 army personnel died, while 49 survived the crash and are being treated in hospitals. Three civilians on the ground were killed and four were injured, Arevalo said.

He added that the soldiers on the flight were fresh graduates and had just completed military training.

An investigative team arrived Monday to look for the plane's flight data recorder and probe what caused the crash. They will also look into the reports of soldiers jumping from the plane.

Images from a local TV station appeared to show the burning wreck of the plane and thick smoke billowing from the village. A large plume of smoke is seen in images of the crash rising up through the palms to the blue sky.