Philippines: military plane crashes with 85 people on board

Published on : 07/04/2021 – 08:44Modified : 07/04/2021 – 08:45

A military plane carrying at least 85 people crashed Sunday (July 4) in the southern Philippines, the armed forces chief said.

So far, 15 people have been rescued from the burning device, a C-130, which crashed while trying to land on Jolo Island in Sulu province, said General Cirilito Sobejana told AFP.

“Help is there, we pray that we can save more lives,” added General Sobejana.

Many of the passengers had recently received basic military training and were sent to the island as part of a joint counterterrorism task force in the region.

The army is very present in the southern Philippines due to the presence of the Islamist organization Abu Sayyaf, considered a terrorist organization by Washington.

It is made up of a network of activists to whom bloody terrorist attacks and kidnappings of foreign tourists and Christian missionaries are attributed.

With AFP