All 9 aboard medical evacuation plane killed in Philippines crash

All nine people on board a small medical evacuation plane were killed on Sunday when the aircraft crashed into a resort area south of the Philippine capital and exploded in flames, officials said.

The light plane crashed into a resort compound in Pansol village in Laguna province near the foothills of Mount Makiling. Police and rescuers retrieved nine bodies from the wreckage, police said.

Footage on social media showed the chaotic scene as an ambulance drove towards a building that was engulfed in flames and witnesses shouted for help in the street.

Rescuers look at the site where a plane crashed in Laguna, south of Manila. AP

"No one will survive this crash. We assume that all confirmed passengers of this plane are dead," said local emergency official Jeffrey Rodriguez, confirming seven bodies had been discovered in the smoking ruins.

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 and disappeared from radar for unknown reasons as it flew over Laguna, about 60 kilometres south of the capital. 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.

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.

Philippine aviation authorities said six passengers and two pilots were aboard the craft when it disappeared from radar about 25 nautical miles from the capital Manila.

Agencies