Military plane crashes, five dead

Military plane crashes, five dead

PHILIPPINES: A military plane crashed in a residential area of a town in the northern Philippines on Monday, killing at least five people and burning more than 20 homes, officials said.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but military officials said the Italian-made Siai-Marchetti S-211 air force trainer jet was on a routine training mission.

At around 3 p.m. (2 p.m. in Jakarta), the plane crashed in Cabanatuan City, about 100 km north of Manila, killing the two pilots and at least three civilians on the ground. Several people were injured, they said.

A local radio station quoted police officials as saying that 21 houses burned down and three others were damaged when the jet crashed into a residential area. --Reuters