4 KILLED AFTER US-MILITARY CONTRACTED PLANE CRASHES IN MAGUINDANAO

 (Photo courtesy of Bhengs Salinogen)

FOUR persons were killed when a plane contracted by the US military on Thursday crashed on a rice field in Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur.

Initial reports showed a US service member and three defense contractors were killed in the crash.

The  US Indo-Pacific Command said Beech King Air 300 Fixed Wings and Multi-Engine Aircraft Model with body number N349CA was conducting a routine mission “providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support at the request of its Philippine allies”  when the incident happened.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing the aircraft flying low over Ampatuan before it suddenly nose-dived into an open field in Bgy. Malatimon past 2 p.m. Thursday.

Videos circulating on social media showed the wreckage, along with a cow, which was fatally injured in the crash.

Police and military personnel have secured the crash site while awaiting investigators from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

Tim Ambolodto, head of  the Maguindanao Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), said his counterparts in the municipality has recovered four  bodies.

The names of the victims were being withheld pending family notifications.

Investigation on the crash is ongoing.