A C-130 military transport aircraft of the Philippine Air Force, carrying military personnel, crashed in the province of Sulu in the southwest of the country.
According to the latest data, the victims of the plane crash were at least 45 people, including three local residents who died on the ground.
Such data are cited by CNN with reference to the message of the Ministry of Defense of the country.
The plane crash occurred on Sunday, July 4, at about 11:30 local time (6:30 Moscow time).
According to the Minister of Defense of the Republic Dolphin Lorenzana, the plane was carrying soldiers from Cagayan de Oro on the island of Mindanao.
Onboard there were more than 90 people, including three pilots and five crew members.
According to preliminary information, while trying to land at Jolo airport, the plane flew past the runway and crashed in the neighboring municipality of Patikul.
This was announced by the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic, Sirilito Sobejana.
As one of the eyewitnesses to the tragedy said, several people jumped out of the plane before it fell to the ground.
After the crash, 49 soldiers were hospitalized, and five more are reported missing.
Several local residents were also injured.
The Philippine National Police, Fire and Disaster Risk Reduction Bureau staff in the province continue their search and rescue mission.
According to the commander of the Sulu Joint Task Force, Major General William Gonzalez, rescue services hope to be able to find survivors.
He urged to keep hope and pray for the injured and lost.
Data on the number of people on board the crashed C-130 is somewhat different.
Initially, Lorenzana reported 92, AFP reported 85, according to The New York Times, there were 96 people on the plane, as well as five combat vehicles.
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Many of the troops on board are reported to have recently completed basic military training.
They were on the plane as part of the anti-terrorism task force and were supposed to join the fight against extremists operating in Sulu province.
The Minister of Defense of the republic said that he ordered a full investigation of the incident in order to understand the causes of the crash as soon as the rescue operation is completed.
Recall that at the end of June in the Philippines, a military helicopter S-70i Black Hawk crashed.
The crew underwent nighttime exercises in the airbase area north of Manila.
There were six people on board, all of whom died.
The command then said that all the Black Hawk helicopters recently acquired by the country would not take off until the investigation was completed.
At the end of March 2020, while taking off from Manila International Airport, a Lion Air plane crashed while evacuating a patient to Tokyo's Haneda Airport. Then eight people died. The head of the Philippine Red Cross, Richard Gordog, then said that there were two doctors, a nurse, a patient, his companion and three crew members on board. As TASS reported, the aircraft caught fire during takeoff and crashed.