Accessibility links

Breaking News

Manila: 8 Dead in Medevac Plane Explosion 


Rescuers stand next to the wreckage of a Westwind aircraft after it caught on fire during takeoff at Manila international airport in Manila on March 29, 2020.
Rescuers stand next to the wreckage of a Westwind aircraft after it caught on fire during takeoff at Manila international airport in Manila on March 29, 2020.

A medical evacuation plane headed from the Philippines to Japan burst into flames Sunday at the end of the runway in Manila, killing all eight people aboard, officials said.

"Unfortunately, no passenger survived the accident," that involved a Lion Air flight the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said in a statement.

The plane was carrying a patient along with a companion and medical staff to Haneda, Japan.

“8 passengers consisting of a flight medic, nurse, doctor, three flight crew, one patient and its companion were on board,” Senator and head of the Philippine Red Cross Richard Gordon wrote on Twitter.

It was not immediately clear whether the patient was suffering from the novel coronavirus.

Video from the scene shows a huge plume of smoke rising from the end of the runway.

  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG