Death toll in Philippine military plane crash rises to 45

MANILA - The death toll in the military plane crash that took place in the southern Philippines before noon on Sunday has risen to 45, the Philippine defense department said.

As of 8:40 pm local time, 42 soldiers and three civilians perished after the military plane carrying army personnel crashed and burst into flames upon landing on Jolo island in Sulu province, the Department of National Defense said.

The department said 53 others were also injured in the accident, including 49 soldiers and four civilians. Five soldiers remain "unaccounted for."

"Retrieval operations are still ongoing," the department added.

The department and the military said 96 soldiers were on board the plane. The civilians that either died or injured were on the ground.

Minutes after the crash, troops and civilian volunteers rushed to the site for search and rescue. "Per eyewitnesses, a number of soldiers were seen jumping out of the aircraft before it hit the ground, sparing them from the explosion caused by the crash," the military said.

According to Philippine Air Force documents, the crashed plane was a second hand C-130 Hercules recently purchased from the US military.

The PAF said in an official statement that the aircraft has a tail number "5125." Military documents showed that the aircraft arrived in the country in January this year. The United States officially turned over the plane during a ceremony in February.

"The C-130H NR 5125 is the first of the two C-130H aircraft granted by the US government through the Security Cooperation Assistance," the PAF said in a statement in January.

In his speech during the turn-over ceremony of the "C-130H aircraft NR 5125" in February, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana confirmed that his country acquired the two C-130H aircraft through security cooperation assistance.

"Out of the total cost of 2.5 billion pesos (roughly $50.89 million), the Philippines will only pay 1.6 billion pesos (roughly $32.57 million)," Lorenzana said, adding that the US agreed to "shoulder" the rest of the cost.