Feb 1 \u2013 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.<\/p>\n
The jet was on a medical transport mission on Friday evening and carrying four crew members, a child patient and the patient\u2019s escort, Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, a medical aircraft company, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that there will be loss,\u201d Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro said during a news conference at the scene of the crash, calling it an \u201cawful aviation disaster\u201d.<\/p>\n
Emergency crews rushed to the evening crash scene as residents crowded streets littered with fiery debris and pieces of the aircraft.<\/p>\n
Witnesses described a chaotic scene with people who were injured and structures ablaze.<\/p>\n
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, told a\u00a0local NBC outlet<\/a>.<\/p>\n The girl was accompanied by her mother, a pilot, a copilot, a doctor and a paramedic, the spokesman said.<\/p>\n Mr Gold told NBC the child\u2019s treatment was sponsored by a third-partner charity.<\/p>\n \u201cShe fought quite a lot to survive, and unfortunately, this tragedy on the way home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Mexican Consulate in Philadelphia put out a notice on X for Mexican nationals affected by the incident to call a helpline.<\/p>\n Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said city officials do not know the number of fatalities, but the city is \u201casking for prayers for anyone and everyone that may have been affected\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you see debris, call 911, don\u2019t touch anything,\u201d she told city residents.<\/p>\n The crash happened just blocks from the Roosevelt Mall, a three-storey shopping center in a densely populated part of Philadelphia, the fifth biggest city in the US.<\/p>\n The area where the crash occurred is filled with terraced housing and shops.<\/p>\n Videos of the incident online show the plane coming down quickly and sparking a huge fireball.<\/p>\n Witnesses described shrapnel from the crash damaging cars and sending burning debris into the streets. Photos of the aftermath show burning cars mangled.<\/p>\n One man who spoke with CBS, the BBC\u2019s US partner, said he was driving in the area when he heard a whirring sound and then a loud explosion.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone just started screaming,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n One witness told local media that the explosion \u201clit up the whole sky\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI just saw a plane basically hit the building and it exploded. The sky lit up and I pulled over and basically, it was just real bad around here,\u201d the witness\u00a0told WPVI-TV<\/a>, describing the crash as feeling like an earthquake.<\/p>\n