A small plane crashed in Northeast Philadelphia near a mall on Friday.
A girl who was returning to Tijuana after receiving treatment for a life-threatening condition in the United States was among the six people on board a medical transport jet that crashed in Northeast Philadelphia on Friday, officials confirmed with NBC News.
The others on the Learjet 55 included the child's mother, a pilot, a copilot, a doctor and a paramedic, according to Jet Rescue Air Ambulance spokesman Shai Gold. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker confirmed all six passengers were killed; one person was killed in a vehicle on the ground, and at least 19 others were hurt.
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"All I can say is, the patient was sponsored by a third-partner charity to undergo life-saving treatment in the U.S.," Gold said. "She did her course of care. She was going home. She fought quite a lot to survive, and unfortunately, this tragedy on the way home."
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A spokesperson for Shriners Hospitals for Children released the following statement Friday night:
Shriners Children’s is heartbroken to confirm that one of our pediatric patients and the child’s mother were aboard the Jet Rescue Air Ambulance that crashed in Philadelphia this evening. The patient had received care from Shriners Children’s Philadelphia and was being transported back to her home country in Mexico on a contracted air ambulance when the crash happened. Because of patient privacy concerns, we cannot say any more about the patient and her family at this time.
Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the medical crew and pilots who were also lost in this tragic event - as well as all of the people who were affected on the ground - and we’re thankful to the first responders for their quick action.
Shriners spokesperson Mel Bower told NBC Philadelphia the girl had just been released from the hospital on Friday.
“I know that the team there in Philadelphia today had a sendoff for her,” he said. “It’s always a meaningful but yet emotional time for us. It’s really just been compounded by the tragic ending.”
Due to privacy laws, neither Gold nor Bower could reveal the child’s identity.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the jet departed from Northeast Philadelphia Airport en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri. It was then supposed to bring the girl and her guardian back to Tijuana.
Video shows the plane, shortly after takeoff, exploding as it hit the ground near the Roosevelt Mall and a major roadway. Several homes and cars were damaged in the explosion.
All six on board were from Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum said.
