A small medical transport plane has crashed into several buildings in north-east Philadelphia, setting homes and vehicles ablaze and injuring people on the ground.
Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, a medical aircraft company, said in a statement that the jet was on a medical transport mission on Friday evening and carrying four crew members, a child patient and the patient’s escort.
“We know that there will be a loss,” Pennsylvania Governor, Josh Shapiro said during a news conference at the scene of the crash, calling it an “awful aviation disaster”.
Emergency crews rushed to the evening crash scene as residents crowded streets littered with fiery debris and pieces of the aircraft.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene with people who were injured and structures ablaze.
The child on board the plane was receiving care in the US for a life-threatening condition and was returning to Tijuana, Mexico, Shai Gold, a spokesman for Jet Rescue Air Ambulance said.
The girl was accompanied by her mother, a pilot, a copilot, a doctor and a paramedic, the spokesman said.
Gold said the child’s treatment was sponsored by a third-partner charity.
“She fought quite a lot to survive, and unfortunately, this tragedy on the way home,” he said.
The Mexican Consulate in Philadelphia put out a notice on X for Mexican nationals affected by the incident to call a helpline.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said city officials do not know the number of fatalities, but the city is “asking for prayers for anyone and everyone that may have been affected”.
“If you see debris, call 911, don’t touch anything,” she told city residents.
The crash happened just blocks from the Roosevelt Mall, a three-storey shopping centre in a densely populated part of Philadelphia, the fifth biggest city in the US.
The area where the crash occurred is filled with terraced housing and shops.
Videos of the incident online show the plane coming down quickly and sparking a huge fireball.
Witnesses described shrapnel from the crash damaging cars and sending burning debris into the streets. Photos of the aftermath show burning cars mangled.
(BBC)
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