MANILA, Philippines — Armed Forces chief Gen. Cirilito Sobejana on Tuesday said the number of deaths from the Air Force plane crash in Patikul in Sulu has climbed to 53.
News5 quoted the top military official as saying the latest casualty died from chemical burns on his face. He was among those pulled out alive from the C-130 plane, but later on passed away at a hospital in Zamboanga.
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"Perhaps he inhaled the smoke and that aggravated his medical condition," Sobejana said in Filipino on the incident that drew condolences from foreign dignitaries and stirred calls for investigation from lawmakers.
Some 96 military personnel were aboard the C-130 plane when it crashed in the Sulu municipality on July 4. There were 50 soldiers who died, along with three civilians.
The number of individuals injured has also stood at 46, according to Sobejana.
State forces earlier today said they were able to retrieve the plane's black boxes, or its cockpit voice and flight data recorders. It would be sent to the United States for analysis, per the Western Mindanao Command.
"I have no words to capture how I feel about the recent tragedies that befell the AFP," Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana wrote on Facebook. "No compensation can repay our soldiers' supreme sacrifice."
President Rodrigo Duterte was in Zamboanga City on Monday, where he honored those who died from the crash.
He also sought to assure that families would get their benefits and other forms of assistance from government. — Christian Deiparine with reports from News5 and Agence France Presse