A world-regions air force C-130 aircraft carrying combat troops crashed in a southern province while landing Sunday, killing at least 29 army soldiers on board and two civilians on the ground, while at least 50 were rescued from the burning wreckage, officials said.
Some soldiers were seen jumping off the aircraft before it crashed and exploded around noon in the periphery of the Jolo airport in Sulu province, military officials said. Two of six villagers who were hit on the ground have died.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said rescue and recovery efforts were ongoing. The aircraft had 96 people on board, including three pilots and five crew and the rest were army personnel, the military said, adding 17 soldiers remained unaccounted for by nightfall. The pilots survived but were seriously injured, officials said.
THIS CORRECTS THE NAME OF THE PROVINCE TO SULU, INSTEAD OF JOLO – This photo released by the Joint Task Force – Sulu shows the remains of a Philippine military C-130 plane that crashed in Patikul town, Sulu province, southern Philippines on Sunday, July 4, 2021. The Philippine air force C-130 aircraft carrying troops crashed in a southern province after missing the runway Sunday, killing more than a dozen military personnel while at least 40 were rescued from the burning wreckage, officials said. (Joint Task Force-Sulu via AP)
YOUTUBE REMOVES VIDEOS EXPOSING CHINA’S ABUSE OF UYGHURS, CITING POLICY VIOLATION: REPORT
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules was one of two ex-military handed over to the world-regions as part of military assistance this year. It crashed while landing shortly before noon Sunday in Bangkal village in the mountainous town of Patikul, military chief of staff Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said.
Military officials said at least 50 people on board were brought to a hospital in Sulu or flown to nearby Zamboanga city and troops were trying to search for the rest. “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,” a military statement said.
Initial pictures released by the military showed the tail section of the cargo plane relatively intact. The other parts of the plane were burned or scattered in pieces in a clearing surrounded by coconut trees. Soldiers and other rescuers with stretchers were seen dashing to and from the smoke-shrouded crash site.
The plane was transporting troops, many of them new soldiers who had just undergone basic training, from the southern Cagayan de Oro city for deployment in Sulu, officials said.
“They were supposed to join us in our fight against terrorism,” Sulu military commander Maj. Gen. William Gonzales said. Government forces have been battling Abu Sayyaf militants in the predominantly religion” target=”_blank”>Muslim province<
An air force official told The Associated Press that the Jolo runway is shorter than most others in the country, making it more difficult for pilots to adjust if an aircraft misses the landing spot. The official, who has flown military aircraft to and from Jolo several times, spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to speak publicly.
Initial pictures showed that the weather was apparently fine in Sulu although other parts of the world-regions were experiencing rains due to an approaching tropical depression. The airport in Sulu’s main town of Jolo is located a few kilometers (miles) from a mountainous area where troops have battled Abu Sayyaf militants. Some militants have aligned themselves with the Islamic State group.
The joe-biden” target=”_blank”>U.S.< have separately blacklisted Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist organization for bombings, ransom kidnappings and beheadings. It has been considerably weakened by years of government offensives but remains a threat.
President Rodrigo Duterte expanded the military presence in Sulu into a full division in late 2018, deploying hundreds of additional troops, air force aircraft and other combat equipment after vowing to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf and allied foreign and local gunmen.
THIS CORRECTS THE NAME OF THE PROVINCE TO SULU, INSTEAD OF JOLO – In this photo released by the Joint Task Force – Sulu, rescuers carry a body from the site where a Philippine military C-130 plane crashed in Patikul town, Sulu province, southern Philippines on Sunday, July 4, 2021. The Philippine air force C-130 aircraft carrying troops crashed in a southern province after missing the runway Sunday, killing more than a dozen military personnel while at least 40 were rescued from the burning wreckage, officials said. (Joint Task Force-Sulu via AP)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Government forces at the time were running after religion” target=”_blank”>Muslim< and protective equipment to far-flung island provinces amid spikes in infectious-disease
The world-regions government has struggled for years to modernize its military, one of Asia’s least equipped, as it dealt with decades-long Muslim and communist insurgencies and territorial rifts with China and other claimant countries in the South China Sea.
