ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Search on Philippine volcano confirms 4 died in plane crash

In this handout photo provided by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, rescuers stand beside a helicopter as they prepare their search for passengers of a Cessna 340 aircraft with registry number RP-C2080 at Camalig town, Albay province, southeast of Manila, Philippines on Tuesday Feb. 21, 2023. (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines via AP) In this handout photo provided by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, rescuers stand beside a helicopter as they prepare their search for passengers of a Cessna 340 aircraft with registry number RP-C2080 at Camalig town, Albay province, southeast of Manila, Philippines on Tuesday Feb. 21, 2023. (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines via AP)
Share
MANILA, Philippines -

Searchers who hiked the slopes of a restive Philippine volcano to find the wreckage of a plane that crashed over the weekend confirmed the two Australian energy consultants and two Filipino crew members on board didn't survive, the local mayor said.

More than a dozen army troops and firefighters were dropped off from an air force helicopter Wednesday morning, then they hiked to the crash site on a gully on Mayon volcano's slope, civil aviation officials said. The Cessna 340 went missing after taking off Saturday.

"There were no survivors," Mayor Carlos Baldo of Albay province's Camalig town told The Associated Press in a cellphone message when asked about the fate of the four people onboard the plane. The remains of the crash victims would be brought down the volcano on Thursday, he said.

The two Australians were working as consultants for Energy Development Corp., a large geothermal power company, which owned the plane that was flown by a Filipino pilot with a crew member. The company deployed teams backed by helicopters and drones to help in the search, which was hampered by heavy rains, gusty wind and thick clouds.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, who was in Manila on Wednesday for talks with Philippine officials, expressed his condolences to the families of the crash victims before the deaths were confirmed by Baldo later in the day. The mayor oversaw the search for the Cessna aircraft by nearly 200 army troops, firefighters and volunteers, including veteran mountaineers.

"Can I just express my condolences to both Australian and Filipino families of those who died in the very tragic plane accident?" Marles asked Philippine defense chief Carlito Galvez Jr. in a news conference in Manila.

He thanked all those who helped in the search, including two soldiers who were shot and killed by suspected communist guerrillas on Monday while buying supplies in a market in Camalig, military officials said.

"It is a moment where the really personal nature of the relationship between our two countries is very manifest and felt very profoundly," said Marles, who also serves as Australia's defense minister.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday reiterated Marles' words of condolences and thanks.

"I do ... want to thank the search teams who traveled into a relatively remote area in dangerous circumstances and weather ... in order to undertake this task," Albanese told reporters in the South Australia state capital, Adelaide.

"My heart goes out to people who were there visiting the Philippines who tragically won't return to their families," he added.

Albanese said the Australians killed were men who lived in Adelaide. He provided no other details about them. Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials were offering their families consular assistance, he said.

Contact with the plane was lost a few minutes after it took off from Albay's international airport Saturday morning for the hourlong flight to the capital, Manila. The wreckage was spotted in an aerial search on Sunday on the slope of the 8,077-foot (2,462-meter) volcano but an air force helicopter only managed to ferry the search team near the crash site Wednesday morning after the weather improved, officials said.

Only the tail section of the plane remained intact with the rest of the wreckage scattered on the barren upper slopes of the volcano, said Eric Apolonio, spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

Villagers are normally prohibited from entering a permanent danger zone 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) around the volcano, which last erupted in 2018, displacing tens of thousands of people.

But the volcano-monitoring agency allowed the high-risk search and rescue effort on Mayon, one of the country's 24 most active volcanoes, with a warning for the team members to be alert for sudden emission of volcanic ash and gas or sudden mudflows if rain fell on the slopes.

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

BREAKING

BREAKING

Three men were injured after a man armed with a knife entered a Montreal-area Islamic cultural centre Friday afternoon.

A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.

Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

The parents of a teenager who died after allegedly consuming the poisonous products of a Mississauga man are now suing him, as well as several doctors involved in her care.

The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

Local Spotlight

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.