At least 50 people have been killed after a C-130 transport plane operated by the Philippines military crashed in the country’s Sulu province and dozens more have been injured.
Philippines military chief Cirilito Sobejana confirmed that a C-130 transport plane had crashed in Jolo, the province’s capital, on Sunday. The plane that was transporting troops at the time of the accident, missed the runway while landing and crashed into a close-by village, Sobejana explained.
The Lockheed C-130 transport aircraft was carrying 96 people. Most of them were troops. The soldiers were sent to combat Islamist militants such as the Abu Sayyaf group.
The defense ministry told that the dead were mainly military personnel, but three civilians on the ground were also killed.
Five people were listed as missing there, but all passengers on board have now been accounted for.
A spokesperson from the Armed Forces of the Philippines told media outlets that they were looking for the flight data recorder to find out why exactly the plane might have crashed. Major Gen Edgard Arevalo informed there was no sign of any attack on the plane.
The plane came down at 11:30 local time (03:30 GMT) a few kilometers from the town of Jolo, which 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,” armed forces chief Gen Sobejana told reporters.
