Plane crashes in Philippines, US soldier killed

(CLO) Officials said a US service member and three defense contractors were killed after a small plane crashed in the Philippines on Thursday.

The aircraft “provided intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support” at the request of allies in the Philippines, the US Indo- Pacific Command said in a press release.

X

Video of the accident scene (source: DX)

It was a routine mission “in support of U.S.-Philippine security cooperation activities,” the command said. Military personnel and defense contractors were the only people on board.

The plane crashed into a rice field near Ampatuan, a small city in the southern province of Maguindanao del Sur. The command said the cause of the crash was under investigation.

Image of the crashed plane. Source: X/DX

Windy Beaty, a provincial disaster mitigation officer, said she received reports that residents saw smoke coming from the plane and heard an explosion before it crashed into the ground less than a kilometer from a cluster of farms.

Four bodies were found at the scene. No one on the ground was injured, but a buffalo was killed in the incident. The identities of the service members and contractors have not been determined, pending standard notification of next of kin, the command said.

The buffalo died in the incident. Source: X

US forces have been deployed for decades to a Philippine military zone in the south of the country, an area home to minority Muslims in the predominantly Catholic nation.

Hoang Huy (according to CBS, ABC, NYP)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/may-bay-roi-o-philippines-quan-nhan-my-va-nha-thau-quoc-phong-thiet-mang-post333373.html