A medical evacuation aircraft crashed this Friday afternoon in a residential area of Philadelphia, USA, causing a great explosion and leaving at least six dead.
The victims – four crew members and two passengers – were of Mexican nationality, including a minor, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported Friday.
The plane transported a pediatric patient and his mother, who returned to Mexico after the girl had been treated in Philadelphia, said Shai Gold, spokesman for the Jet Rescue Air Ambulance flight operator.
Learjet 55 Transporting A Child Who Had JustTed Treatment for A Life-Threatening Condition, Her Mother and Four Others Crashd Into A Philadelphia Neighborhood Shortly After Takeoff from North Philadelphia Airport Friday Evening, Explicing in A FireBall That Enc Engulfed… pic.twitter.com/x3mkdws9
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The Learjet 55 crashed after taking off from an airport to the northeast of Philadelphia, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). A spokesman said that the plane had crashed around 18:30 local time (23:30 GMT).
According to videos shared by witnesses on social networks and in the media, at the time of the incident, in an area of houses, there was a great explosion, after which fire and a mass of smoke are observed.
Several houses and vehicles “were impacted,” said the mayor of Philadelphia, Cherelle Parker, at a press conference shortly after, when he added: “We have no reports on the number of fatalities.”
The governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, described the accident as “a terrible aviation disaster.” The causes of the event were unknown.
A passenger plane and a military helicopter crash into the air in Washington
The incident occurs shortly after a military helicopter collided against a commercial plane near the Reagan National Airport of Washington, causing the death of the 67 people who were aboard both devices.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, said this time it is “very sad to see a plane crash into Philadelphia.” The president also regretted the loss of “innocent souls.”
With information from EFE and CNN.
