Airplane crash
© ReutersRescuers recover dead bodies after a small plane crashed into a house, in Plaridel town, Bulacan province, Philippines March 17, 2018.
A small aircraft slammed into a residential area in the Metro Manila region in the Philippines on Saturday, killing all five on board the aircraft as well as five people inside a house who had gathered for a family lunch.

The six-seat Piper PA-23 Apache aircraft crashed in Plaridel, Bulacan province, shortly after takeoff at around 11:20am, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said. The plane was flying from Plaridel Airport to the city of Laoag.

Plaridel police chief Agustin Joseph said in a radio interview that the plane hit a house at the time a family was having its lunch there. Three children, their mother, and grandmother were killed according to police superintendent Julio Lizardo.


The father was not in the house at the time of the tragic accident.


According to a witness cited by local media, one of the plane's wings hit a 40ft-tall pole, before plummeting into the house moments later. Two bystanders, an elderly woman and her grandson, were reportedly injured outside.

All other aircraft owned by the plane's operator, Lite Air Express, have been grounded pending an investigation.