A small plane contracted by the American army crashed Thursday in the South of the Philippines, killing at least four people on board.
The accident took place on the island of Mindanao, near the municipality of Ampatuan. The United States Embassy has confirmed that the plane had been contracted by the US military, but provided no other details on the incident.
The Philippine army published a statement confirming the accident, but said that the case had been classified, and they could not disclose additional information during the continuation of an investigation.
The authorities are still working to determine the cause of the accident, and the regional police have been deployed on the site to prevent the falsification of evidence.
The victims of the accident have not yet been identified and that police spokesperson Jopy Ventura said that the tail number of the plane, N349CA, had been recorded in the defense firm Metrea.
According to the Flightaware flight tracking site, the plane was a Beechcraft Super King Air B300. Metrea, the company behind the plane, is known as a service provider to national security partners in various areas of mission.
The accident occurred on a farm and the municipal rescuer Rhea Martin reported that four bodies had been found near the wreckage. She described the plane as “cut in half” on the impact.
The accident occurs in the presence of small numbers of American troops in the Philippines on short -term rotation deployments. The American army has helped the Philippine forces to fight against militant groups linked to the Daesh terrorist group (ISIS) which remains active in the region.
The cause of the accident and the details surrounding the mission are investigated, and the American Indo-Pacific command did not immediately respond to requests for information.
The authorities of the Philippines continue to investigate and the situation remains close while the American and Filipino officials work together to understand the circumstances surrounding the tragic incident.
