Filtered By: Topstories
News

4 charred to death as plane falls in Las Piñas


(Updated 2:56 pm) At least four people on board a DC-3 plane were burned to death when the private aircraft crashed into an "abandoned" warehouse in a residential area in Las Piñas City on Saturday noon.
Firefighters inspect what's left of a DC-3 plane that crashed and burst into flames in a Las Piñas subdivision Saturday. Benjie Castro
Before crashing into the warehouse in Villa Fidela in Elias Aldana village, the plane, which was on its way to Palawan for a test flight, was already flying low and hit a nearby house, dzBB radio reported. Rudy Garcia, E. Aldana village chief, said he saw four badly burned bodies, three of them men. "Parang tatlong lalaki ito, yung isa hindi ko makilala kasi sunog na sunog (It appears to be three men, I can't figure out the other person because the body is badly burnt)," Garcia said. It was not clear whether the recovered bodies were residents of the area or the passengers or pilots. Authorities said the plane was carrying two pilots and five crewmen. A search for the other passengers are on going. According to a dzBB report, some of the bodies were severed. There were no signs of survivors on the plane as of posting time. Eduardo Kapunan, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, said Victoria Aviation, owner of the plane, is in the business of transporting goods. The plane that crashed had body number RPC 550. Kapunan said he has already seen the flight manifest but refused to disclose the names of the passengers and the two pilots aboard the light craft, saying “Mas magandang manggagaling na lang sa Victoria."
Kapunan said a DC-3 plane is a World War II vintage aircraft used by the Air Force. “Pero lumang luma na kasi itong [nag-crash]," he said. Earlier Lloyd Olipano, a concerned resident in Las Piñas, called radio dzBB on Saturday and said at least two houses were damaged when the aircraft fell. "Ngayon lang po nangyari, kababagsak lang, nagliliyab pa. Hindi kami makalapit. (It happened just now, it just fell, it's still in flames. We can't go near it)," Olipano said. According to him, firefighters have already rushed to the area. Olipano is pleading to authorities to shut down the electricity to prevent any fires. Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) chief Pablito Cordeta said the fire was put out at about 1:40 p.m. both by members of the BFP and airport security. - Mark Merueñas, Joseph Holandes Ubalde, GMANews.TV
LOADING CONTENT