13 people killed in plane crash in Paranaque

From abs-cbnnews.com:

MANILA, Philippines (6th UPDATE) – A four-seater aircraft crashed in Parañaque City on Saturday afternoon, killing at least 13 people, including children.

Ten others were reportedly injured and were rushed to the Parañaque Doctors Hospital. One of the injured victims is in critical condition.

Authorities said the plane crashed in a depressed area in Better Living Subdivision, Taiwan St., Barangay Don Bosco at around 2 p.m.

Ramon Gutierrez, director-general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, said 2 pilots and a civilian onboard the aircraft were killed. The pilots were identified as Timoteo Aldo and Jessie Kim Lustica.

The other fatalities have yet to be identified.

Gutierrez earlier told dzMM that the plane with tail no. RPC 824 encountered a technical problem shortly after taking off from the Manila domestic airport.

He said the plane, owned by Innovators Technology Inc., was bound for San Jose, Mindoro to pick up cargo.

Gutierrez said one of the pilots had requested the Manila airport control tower for relanding, but the plane did not make it.

“Pag-take off niya dito sa ating domestic runway 1331, nagkaroon ng aberya at tumawag sa tower nagre-request uli ng emergency landing pero hindi na inabot kaya bumagsak siya,” he said.

Affected families

Parañaque City Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr. arrived on the crash site and reported that the crash damaged at least 50 homes of informal settlers along the subdivision’s easement.

Around 70 families have been evacuated and are temporarily taking shelter at the Annex 35 covered court.

The mayor said the plane crash also set fire to the F. Serrano Elementary School.

He said about 90% of the school was burned down. Around 2,000 students will be affected by the incident.

“We will be advising the students on Monday that classes will be suspended until further notice. We will have to distribute the students to nearby schools,” Bernabe told ANC on Saturday.

The owners of the plane may also be held accountable for the fatalities.

“We will start looking for the owners of the plane because they have a responsibility to those people that they have injured,” Bernabe said.

Bernabe also appealed to the public to donate used clothes, food and groceries for the affected families.

Authorities are now investigating the cause of the crash. –With reports from AFP; Ricky Velasco and Rod Izon, radio dzMM; Gretchen Malalad, ABS-CBN News; ANC