Manila: The Philippine Air Force C-130 brought the troops crashing into the southern province when trying to land on Sunday, killing at least 29 military personnel while at least 50 rescued from the burning debris, officials said.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the rescue and recovery efforts were taking place.
The aircraft had 92 people on board, including three pilots and five crew and the rest were army personnel, military officials said.
The pilot survived but was seriously injured and at least four villagers on the soil were injured, officials said.
Hercules Lockheed C-130 is one of two ex-u ins.
Air Force aircraft was handed over to the Philippines as part of military assistance this year.
It fell when landing shortly before Sunday afternoon in the village of Bangsungan in the city of Patikul in Sulu Province, Military Chief of Staff General Cirilito Sobjana said.
Military officials said at least 50 people on the ship were taken to the hospital and troops tried to find another.
“Per eyewitness, a number of soldiers were seen jumping out of the plane before touching the ground, saving them from the explosion caused by the accident,” said a military statement.
The initial image released by the military showed the tail of the cargo plane.
Other parts of the plane are burned or scattered in pieces in clearing surrounded by coconut trees.
Army and other rescuers with stretchers looked dashing and from the smoke-enveloped accident site.
The plane transports troops, many of them new soldiers who have just undergone basic training, from the city of Cagayan de Oro South to be placed in Sulu, officials said.
Government forces have combined Abu Sayyaf’s guerrillas in Sulu Province who are dominated by Muslims for decades.
Not immediately clear what caused the accident.
Regional Military Commander Lieutenant General Corleto Vinluan said it was unlikely that the plane heartbreaking and quoting witnesses said that it seemed to have exceeded the runway then crashed into the airport suburbs, injuring at least four villagers.
“It’s a pity,” Sobjajana told reporters.
” The plane missed the runway and it tried to get back strength but failed and fell.
“A air force official tells the associated press that is shorter than the other in it, makes it more difficult for pilots to adjust if a plane misses a landing place.
The official, who had flown a military aircraft to and from Jolo several times, spoke with anonymous requirements due to lack of authority to speak publicly.
The first respondent worked on the site after the Philippine Air Force C-130 crashed into landing in Patikul, Sulu Province, Philippines July 4, 2021.
(Reuters) The initial images showed that the weather seemed to be fine in Sulu from the Philippines was having rain due to depression Tropical approaching.
The airport in the main city of Sulu Jolo is located a few kilometers (miles) from the mountainous area where the troops have fought against Militan Abu Sayyaf.
Some militants have aligned themselves with Islamic groups.
The U.S.
And the Philippines separately has a black list of Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist organization for bombings, abduction ransom and beheading.
It has been much weaker by offensive for years but remains a threat.
President Rodrigo Duterte expanded the military presence in Sulu to become a full division at the end of 2018, mobilizing hundreds of additional troops, air force aircraft, and other combat equipment after vowing to remove Abu Sayyaf and strangers and local armed people.
The government forces at the time ran after Muslim armed groups a year after extinguishing the five-month siege of the South Marawi City by hundreds of militants related to the Islamic State group.
More than 1,000 people, most militants and commanders of Abu Sayyaf are difficult to understand, killed in several months of intense air and land attacks.
Sunday accident comes because the number of limited military aircraft has been tense further, because the Air Force helps transport medical equipment, vaccines, and protective equipment to the provinces of island which are far amid a surge in Covid-19 infection.
The Philippine government has struggled for years to modernize its military, one of the most non-equipped Asia, because it deals with Muslim and communist rebellion for decades and scattering territorials with China and other prosecutors in the South China Sea.