9 dead in plane crash in Philippines

The medical evacuation plane, carrying seven passengers, a pilot and a co-pilot, crashed into a private pool resort inside a subdivision in Pansol, a village in Calamba City, around 3:00 p.m., the report said.

In this photo provided by Philippine Red Cross, rescuers look at the site where a plane crashed in Laguna, south of Manila, Philippines on September 1, 2019. [Photo: Philippine Red Cross via AP]

Police said the King Air 350 plane with tail number RPC 2296 was transporting a patient from Dipolog City in Zamboanga del Norte province in the southern Philippines to Manila for a medical treatment.

Among the passengers onboard were the patient's wife, a doctor and medical staff, plus the two pilots. All the nine died, the report added.

"As of 8: 16 p.m., nine cadavers were retrieved from the wreckage," the report said, adding that investigators and airline personnel are in the process of identifying the bodies.

The report said the private plane took off from Dipolog City airport at 1:40 p.m.

The report said the two caretakers who were at the resort during the crash were also injured and taken to a local hospital for treatment.

According to witnesses, smoke engulfed the low-flying plane before it crashed and exploded in fireball. They said that the plane attempted to ascend before it hit the ground.

Metal debris were falling from the plane while it was trying to maneuver, the witnesses added. Firefighters and emergency personnel rushed to the scene minutes after the crash.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said that a medical evacuation plane lost radar contact with the Manila Control Tower while on its way back to Manila from Dipolog City.