A military plane carrying at least 92 people crashed in Cotabato, the southern Philippines on Sunday, the armed forces chief said.
Seventeen bodies had so far been recovered and 40 injured had been rescued so far, Defence Minister Delfin Lorenzana said in a statement.
Most of the 92 people aboard were troops flying from Laguindingan Airport, some 460 km (290 miles) to the northeast.
“Rescue and recovery is ongoing,” Lorenzana said.
Pictures from the scene showed flames and smoke pouring from wreckage strewn among trees as men in combat uniform milled around. A large column of black smoke rose from the coconut palms into the blue sky.
Military chief Cirilito Sobejana said the plane had “missed the runway trying to regain power.”
A military spokesman, Colonel Edgard Arevalo, said there was no indication of any attack on the plane, but that a crash investigation had not begun and efforts were focussed on rescue and treatment.
Sobejana said in a message to Reuters that the plane had crashed a few kilometres (miles) from Jolo airport at 11:30 a.m. (0330 GMT) and had been carrying troops.
“We are currently attending to the survivors who were immediately brought to the 11th Infantry Division station hospital in Busbus, Jolo, Sulu,” he said.
Many of the passengers had recently graduated from basic military training and were being deployed to the restive island as part of a joint task force fighting terrorism.
The military has a heavy presence in the southern Philippines where militant groups, including the kidnap-for-ransom outfit Abu Sayyaf, operate.
Reuters
