The death toll from a military plane crash in the southern Philippines has risen to 52 as two more critically injured soldiers died in the hospital, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said, Report informs, citing TASS.
All 96 passengers and crew in the C-130H aircraft that crashed upon landing before noon Sunday on Jolo island in Sulu province have been accounted for, the Department of National Defense said, adding that 49 soldiers died and 47 others injured.
Major General Edgard Arevalo, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson, said in an online press conference that the retrieval operations for plane parts, including the black box that recorded the flight data, are ongoing at the crash site, and an investigative team has arrived in Sulu.
On July 4, a military plane was carrying newly-trained army personnel when it crashed and burst into flames after overshooting the runway around 11:30 a.m. local time.
Minutes after the crash, troops, and civilian volunteers rushed to the site for search and rescue. "Per eyewitnesses, several soldiers were seen jumping out of the aircraft before it hit the ground, sparing them from the explosion caused by the crash," the military said.