Philadelphia (AP) – A Person in a Car was the Seventh Fatal Victim of the Fiery Crash of An Air Ambulance Onto A Busy Philadelphia Street, Authorities Said Saturday, as Investigators sifted through burned Cars, Damaged Homes and Charred Debris for Clues to Determine Why The plane dropped shortly after takeoff.
Carrying six people, including a child who spent months treatment in a hospital, the little jet fell just after the departure of the northeast airport of Philadelphia, creating what witnesses have described as a ball of Massive fire and leaving a chaotic street scene. At least 19 people were injured, although most were released from hospitals.
The authorities could not yet say why the jet crashed and Adam Thiel, CEO of the City, said that it could be days – or more – until the officials are able to fully count the Many deaths and injured in a massive impact area in a densely populated residential area.
Seven dead and 19 injured, although the toll can increase
AP correspondent Julie Walker reports another murderous plane crash, the latter a little medical transport that crashed on Friday evening in Philadelphia.
On Saturday morning, officials said there were seven dead – six on the jet and the person in the car – and 19 injured.
There are “a lot of unknowns on which was on the streets” when the plane crashed, and the victims’ figures may grow, said Thiel.
The accident scene was at least four to six houses of houses, and the authorities worked to assess the damage, including the house for the house to inspect the accommodation, said Thiel.
The plane hit the ground just after 6 pm for an hour in charge of the Friday evening dinner, and the mayor of Philadelphia, Cherrelle Parker, said that she was at altitude for a very short period before S ‘ crush.
“Suddenly, I heard like a” boom “, and I thought it was a storm,” said Selkuc Koc, a Seasons dinner oven server on Cottman avenue. “And I get up and I look at smoke and fire, it was like a ball, I thought it was a service station that exploded.”
A patron of the restaurant was struck and injured by a small heavy metal object that stolen out the window, said KOC.
The spokesperson for the hospital at the University of Temple-Jeana and Jefferson Health, who treated the injured, said that most of the patients they saw were released at noon, but at least three are remained hospitalized.
A child who had just finished treatment for a deadly condition
Of the six people aboard the medical transportation jet, one was a child who had just finished treatment at the Philadelphia of the Shriners’ hospital, one was his mother and four were crew members, said officials .
A hospital spokesperson said the girl had spent four months there for a rescue treatment for a condition that is not easily treated in Mexico. Shriners have said that they could not give details about the girl or his family due to patient confidentiality problems.
“His journey was that of hope and aspiration,” spokesman Mel Bower told Philadelphia Inquirer. The relationships that the girl made up with the staff “were true and were expensive”, and we will miss a lot, he said.
All the victims of the jet came from Mexico
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said they were all from her country. In a statement on the X social media platform, she cried their death.
“Consular authorities are in constant contact with families; I asked the Secretary for Foreign Affairs to support everything you need. My solidarity with their loved ones and friends, ”she said in Spanish.
Neither the officials of Philadelphia nor the owner of a plane Jet Rescue Air Ambulance revealed the identity of the dead.
But Xe Medic Ambulancias, a Mexican emergency service, identified one of his doctors, Raúl Meza, as a victim. In an article on X, he said that he was the head of the neonatology of the service and assigned to the Isem Atizapán hospital, which is located in the state of Mexico near Mexico.
In Veracruz, a city in the Gulf of Mexico, relatives of Josué Juárez, said that he was the co -pilot of the plane. They were preparing to organize a family ceremony and stay away from television and social media to avoid seeing images of the accident.
They had not seen any videos but they were told that there was a horrible explosion, that the plane separated and that the scene of the crash covered several pies of houses, said brother Edgar Juárez to The Associated Press by phone.
Josué Juárez lived in the center of Mexico, loved Salsa dance and video games and had been a pilot for more than a decade, said his brother. He liked to fly and worked for the air ambulance service for more than a year, mainly flying from the Caribbean coast of Mexico in the United States.
“He was still aware that he had his risks, but the truth is that more accidents occur on the road,” said Edgar Juárez.
Tijuana, Mexico, on the other side of the border of San Diego, was to be the final destination of the flight after a stop at Missouri.
Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, which exploited the Learjet 55 recorded in Mexico, is based in this country and has operations both there and in the spokesperson for the American company, Shai Gold, said that a crew experienced operated the plane and that all the flight teams follow a rigorous training.
The Philadelphia accident was the second fatal incident in 15 months for Jet Rescue. In 2023, five crew members were killed when their plane invaded a track in the central Mexican state of Morelos and crashed into a hill.
Crash comes in the heels of a devastating DC Midail collision
The accident came only two days after The deadliest air disaster in a generation. Wednesday evening, an American Airlines plane carrying 60 passengers and four crew members Having entered outdoors In Washington, DC, with an army helicopter carrying three soldiers. There were no survivors.
In Philadelphia, a door camera captured the video of the plane plunging into a sequence of whites and exploding as it touched the floor near a shopping center and a large roadway.
“Everything we heard was a strong roar and I didn’t know where it came from. We just turned around and saw the big panache, “said Jim Quinn, the owner of the doorbell.
The accident occurred less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the northeast airport of Philadelphia, which mainly serves business jets and charter flights.
Learjet disappeared from the radar after taking off
Learjet 55 quickly disappeared from the radar after leaving the airport at 6:06 p.m. and climbed at an altitude of 1,600 feet (487 meters). It was registered with a company operating as Meds Med, according to the Flight Aware Flight website.
Shortly after 6 p.m., the audio recorded by Liveatc captured an air traffic controller saying that “Medevac Medservice 056” to turn right at the start. About 30 seconds later, he repeats the request before asking: “Do you on the frequency?” A few minutes later, the controller said, “We have a lost plane. We don’t know exactly what happened, so we try to understand it. For the moment, the field will be closed. »»
Michael Schiavone, 37, was sitting at his home in Mayfair, a neighboring neighborhood, when he heard a big blow and the house Trembla.
“There was a big explosion, so I thought we were attacked for a second,” he said.
The FAA said that the National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation. The NTSB said that an investigator arrived on Friday and that more officials are said to be there on Saturday.
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Levy reported to Harrisburg. The writers of the associated press Félix Márquez in Mexico City, Hallie Golden, John O’Connor and Cedar Attanasio contributed.