13 dead as plane crashes in Parañaque school

MANILA, Philippines - A light aircraft crashed into a school within a residential area in Parañaque City this afternoon, sparking a huge fire and killing at least 13 people.

Gwendolyn Pang, secretary-general of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), said that eight of the fatalities were children and the other five were passengers of the light aircraft that crashed in an elementary school in Barangay Don Bosco.

Fire bureau and police officials initially confirmed that five bodies have been pulled out from the crash site.

As the rescue operations continue, eight bodies that belonged to children were recovered from the crash site.

As of 5 p.m., rescuers from the local fire bureau and the PRC were still looking for three missing people. Ten injured people, five of them with second- to third-degree burns, have been rushed to the Parañaque Doctors Medical Center.

Authorities reported that the plane crashed in Felixberto Serrano Elementary School, which was surrounded by shanty houses. The school was located near Annex 35 Subdivision.

City Mayor Florencio Bernabe earlier said that there were no classes in the school. It was not clear if the eight children were the school's students.

Authorities said that the plane's crash caused a huge fire in the school, which spread to the surrounding shanties. At least 50 homes were gutted by the fire.

A resident of Annex 35 Subdivision, who declined to be identified, told philstar.com that children had just finished holding a Christmas party in the school. The resident said that the children's party was scheduled until noon, but mentioned that they could have been playing in the school's grounds or inside the classrooms when the plane crashed.

Ramon Gutierrez, head of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, said that the plane -- a Queen Air light aircraft with tail number RPC-824 -- crashed after taking off from the domestic airport near Merville Subdivision.

Reports said that the crash happened between 2:30 p.m. and 2:45 p.m.

Gutierrez said that the plane was bound for San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, where it was supposed to fetch a fish cargo. He said that after taking off, the plane's pilot requested for a rerun from the air control tower, citing mechanical trouble.

The plane crashed while on its way back to the airport.

Gutierrez said that the plane had three passengers, including a civilian and two pilots identified as Timoteo Aldo and Jessie Kim Lustica.

It was not yet clear if the two pilots were among the fatalities.

Gutierrez said that the plane that crashed has a capacity of six to eight passengers, including seats for two pilots.