MILITARY PLANE CRASHES IN PHILIPPINES, DEATH TOLL RISES TO 50

CRASH SITE

Fifty people have died and dozens seriously injured after a military plane crashed in Philippines. The plane, previously in service with the US Air Force, was handed to the Philippines in January. The ill-fated plane was carrying 96 people, mostly troops when it overshot a runway at Jolo airport in Sulu province on Sunday. The soldiers were among reinforcements sent to combat Islamist militants such as the Abu Sayyaf group.

The spokesperson from the Armed Forces of the Philippines told news site ABS-CBN that they were looking for the flight data recorder to find out why exactly the plane crashed. According to Gen Sobejana, an official of the Defense Ministry, “There was no sign of any attack on the plane, the plane, which came down at 11:30 local time (03:30 GMT) a few kilometers from the town of Jolo, was carrying troops from Cagayan de Oro, on the southern island of Mindanao. It missed the runway, trying to regain power but it didn’t make it.”

According to Aviation Safety Network, the aircraft first flew in 1988.