A Philippines military transport aircraft with at least 85 people on board has crashed in the south of the country, the armed forces say.
More than 40 people have been rescued and have been taken to hospital, armed forces chief Cirilito Sobejana, said.
“So far 40 wounded and injured were rescued and 17 bodies recovered,” Lorenzana said.
“Responders are at the site now. We are praying we can save more lives,” Sobejana said. “It’s very unfortunate. The plane missed the runway, and it was trying to regain power but failed and crashed.”
The plane, a C130 Hercules, was trying to land in Jolo island in Sulu province when it overshot the runway.
Seventeen bodies are said to have been recovered from the crash site at Patikul.
Flames and smoke were seen rising from the wreckage.
The plane, which crashed at at 11:30 local time (03:30 GMT), 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,” Gen Sobejana told reporters.
The soldiers were part of the military’s stepped-up presence in the southern Philippines to combat Islamist militants such as the Abu Sayyaf group.
The state news agency carried pictures of the crash site showing wreckage on fire in a wooded area close to a number of buildings.
“The C-130 is one of the newly acquired planes by the Philippines air force. The area where the crashed happened is home to one of the huge bases of the Philippines military,” she added.
C-130 aircraft, the work horses of the air force, are used to transport troops and supplies. They are also often deployed to deliver humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
The accident comes after a Black Hawk helicopter crashed last month during a night-time training flight, killing all six on board.
Three pilots and three airmen died when their S70-i went down near the Crow Valley training range north of Manila, prompting the grounding of the entire fleet.
Source – BBC / Aljazeera
Picture – Courtesy of Bridge Bridge, PTV)
