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Topics: US News
Joe Harker
A medical transport jet with six people on board crashed into a Philadelphia neighbourhood last night (31 January), erupting in a fireball.
The air ambulance was carrying a Mexican child who had been treated in the US city for a life threatening condition and was being flown home to Mexico.
Jet Rescue Air Ambulance said the child and her mother were on board along with four other crew members, all of whom are from Mexico.
The plane was first bound for Missouri with the intention of then flying onwards to its ultimate destination of Tijuana, but the flight only lasted around 30 seconds.
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Crashing shortly after take off, a number of people on the ground were able to capture footage of the horrifying moment the jet crashed and erupted in a large fireball.
Among the devices which recorded harrowing footage of the disaster were dashboard cameras from nearby cars and doorbell cameras from local residents.
Their footage shows the plane moving through the sky and hurtling towards the ground before the Philadelphia sky is lit up with the explosion.
One of the owners of a doorbell camera which captured the calamity, Jim Quinn, said: "All we heard was a loud roar and didn’t know where it was coming from. We just turned around and saw the big plume."
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Warning: contains distressing images
Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro described the crash as an 'awful aviation disaster' and said 'we know there will be loss'.
Philadelphia mayor Cherelle Parker said information on the number of casualties was not immediately known, but that the plane crash had damaged several homes and vehicles.
US president Donald Trump said the plane crash was 'so sad'.
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In a statement he added: "More innocent souls lost. Our people are totally engaged."
The BBC reports that Temple University Hospital-Jeanes had treated six people on the ground who had been injured by the crash, with three released and details not known about the other three.
A spokesperson for Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, which provides air ambulance services in multiple countries, said: "When an incident like this happens, it’s shocking and surprising. All of the aircraft are maintained, not a penny is spared because we know our mission is so critical."
This tragic crash comes in the wake of the deadliest US air disaster in years, as just days earlier a passenger plane coming in to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington DC with 64 people on board collided with an army helicopter carrying three people.