Plane with 2 aboard crashes in Philadelphia and sets multiple homes ablaze

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Updated 01 February 2025
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Plane with 2 aboard crashes in Philadelphia and sets multiple homes ablaze

  • Jet Rescue Air Ambulance said its aircraft crashed with four crew members, one pediatric medical patient and the patient’s mother on board

A medevac plane crashed soon after takeoff in Philadelphia on Friday with a child and five others on board, the air ambulance company that operated it said, adding that it had not confirmed any survivors.

Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, based in Mexico and licensed to operate in the US, said its aircraft crashed with four crew members, one pediatric medical patient and the patient’s mother on board.

“At this time we cannot confirm any survivors,” the company said in a statement.

State and local officials said late on Friday they could not yet confirm how many people may have died on the ground after the plane slammed into a heavily populated portion of the city. Videos taken by witnesses of the crash clearly showed body parts strewn about the streets and inside nearby homes.

The Mexican government said all those on the plane were Mexican nationals, CNN reported.

The child was a girl on her way home with a final destination of Tijuana, Shai Gold, who works on corporate strategy with Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, told CNN. Her mother was also aboard, he said.

“We are terribly shocked by this tragic turn of events,” Gold said. “This was a very seasoned crew. We are a leading air ambulance company, we fly 600 to 700 times a year.”

He said the company had invested heavily in maintaining its aircraft to the highest international standards and that the plane that crashed had been in excellent flying condition.

“We really don’t know what happened,” Gold said.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro told a press conference at the crash scene that “we know there will be loss in this region.”

“We want to offer our thoughts and our serious prayers for those that are grieving at this moment,” Shapiro said.

President Donald Trump wrote on social media that it was “so sad to see the plane go down in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. More innocent souls lost. Our people are totally engaged. First Responders are already being given credit for doing a great job.”

The crash follows this week’s collision of an American Airlines jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, D.C., which killed 67 in the deadliest airplane crash in the US since 2009.

The Federal Aviation Administration said six people were on the Learjet 55 that crashed around 6:30 p.m. (0030 GMT) on Friday. Local media reported it was near the Roosevelt Mall in northeast Philadelphia and that there were multiple injuries on the ground.

Video aired on local TV stations showed the plane in a sharp dive before hitting the ground and exploding in a massive fireball.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker told a press conference at the scene that several houses and cars had been engulfed in flames. She said the situation is “all hands on deck, that’s where we are right now.”

Officials said it was not clear what led to the crash. The weather was cold and rainy and with low visibility when the plane went down.

The air ambulance had left Northeast Philadelphia Airport and was headed to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri, about 1,800km to the southwest, the FAA said in a statement.

A large fire and several fire trucks were visible at the crash scene in images broadcast by the Philadelphia CBS affiliate. About two hours after the crash the fires were mostly out, according to TV images.

The Philadelphia police and fire departments did not respond to requests for comment.


Kremlin blasts potential EU deployment of French nuclear bombers

Updated 15 sec ago
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Kremlin blasts potential EU deployment of French nuclear bombers

MOSCOW: The possible deployment of French nuclear bombers across the EU will not enhance security on the continent, the Kremlin said Wednesday, after French President Emmanuel Macron said he was ready to discuss the issue.
“The proliferation of nuclear weapons on the European continent is something that will not add security, predictability, or stability to the European continent,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The French president floated the idea during a TV appearance on Tuesday, comparing it to the United States’s nuclear umbrella policy that guarantees Washington would reciprocate if its allies come under nuclear attack.
“The Americans have the bombs on planes in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Turkiye,” Macron told TF1 television.
“We are ready to open this discussion. I will define the framework in a very specific way in the weeks and months to come.”
France is the EU’s only nuclear-armed nation.
Amid Russia’s offensive on Ukraine and US President Donald Trump’s calls on Europe to take more of the burden for its own defense, discussion is growing over extending Paris’s nuclear deterrent to the rest of the 27-member bloc.
Russia, the world’s biggest nuclear power, possesses about 4,000 warheads and views France’s nuclear deterrence as a potential threat to its national security.
“At present, the entire system of strategic stability and security is in a deplorable state for obvious reasons,” Peskov added.
Amid his offensive on Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has several times threatened nuclear escalation, drawing rebukes from the West over “reckless” rhetoric.

‘Albania belongs in EU,’ von der Leyen tells re-elected PM Rama

Updated 37 min 57 sec ago
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‘Albania belongs in EU,’ von der Leyen tells re-elected PM Rama

  • EU and French leaders congratulated Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama Wednesday after his party’s electoral victory

BRUSSELS: EU and French leaders congratulated Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama Wednesday after his party’s electoral victory, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailing his “great progress toward our Union.”
“Let’s keep working closely together on EU reforms. Albania belongs in the EU!” von der Leyen said on X. French President Emmanuel Macron also hailed Rama’s win, writing on X: “France will always stand alongside Albania on its European path.”


Germany arrests three Ukrainians suspected of spying in exploding parcel plot

Updated 14 May 2025
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Germany arrests three Ukrainians suspected of spying in exploding parcel plot

BERLIN: Germany has arrested three Ukrainian nationals on suspicion of foreign agent activity linked to the shipment of parcels containing explosive devices, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The suspects are believed to have been in contact with individuals working for Russian state institutions, federal prosecutors said in a statement.


France says to expel Algerian diplomats in tit-for-tat move

Updated 14 May 2025
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France says to expel Algerian diplomats in tit-for-tat move

PARIS: France will expel Algerian diplomats in response to plans by Algiers to send more French officials home, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Wednesday, as relations between the countries deteriorate.
Barrot told the BFMTV broadcaster that he would summon Algeria’s charge d’affaires to inform him of the decision that he said was “perfectly proportionate at this point” to the Algerian move, which he called “unjustified and unjustifiable.”


Japanese military training plane crashes with two on board

Updated 14 May 2025
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Japanese military training plane crashes with two on board

TOKYO: A Japanese military training plane crashed shortly after takeoff, authorities said Wednesday, with reports saying two people were on board the aircraft which appeared to have fallen in a lake.
“We’re aware a T-4 plane that belongs to the Air Self-Defense Force fell down immediately after taking off at Komaki Air Base” in central Japan, top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
“Details are being probed by the defense ministry,” he told reporters.
The T-4 seats two and is a “domestically produced, highly reliable and maintainable training aircraft... used for all basic flight courses,” according to the defense ministry website.
The aircraft was flying around Lake Iruka near Inuyama city north of Nagoya, according to media outlets including public broadcaster NHK.
“There is no sight of the plane yet. We’ve been told that an aerial survey by an Aichi region helicopter found a spot where oil was floating on the surface of the lake,” local fire department official Hajjime Nakamura told AFP.
He said his office had received unconfirmed information that there were two people on board but that they had not been able to independently verify this.
Aerial footage of the lake broadcast by NHK showed an oil sheen on its surface, dotted with what appeared to be various pieces of debris.
Just after 3:00 p.m. (0600 GMT) the local fire department received a call saying it appeared that a plane had crashed into the lake, the reports said.
The reports added, citing defense ministry sources, that the training plane had disappeared from the radar.
The defense ministry was not able to immediately confirm details to AFP.
Jiji Press said the local municipality had said there had been no damage to houses in the area.