U.S. Marine from California identified as one of four people killed in Philippines plane crash
A U.S. Marine from California was identified as one of four people killed when a plane contracted by the U.S. military crashed in the southern Philippines.
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — A U.S. Marine from California was identified by military officials Sunday as one of four people killed when a plane contracted by the U.S. military crashed in a rice field in the southern Philippines.
Sgt. Jacob M. Durham, 22, of Long Beach, died Thursday in the crash of an aircraft that was conducting a routine mission “providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support at the request of our Philippine allies,” officials at Camp Pendleton, California, said in a statement. Officials said the cause of the crash was under investigation.
Three defense contractors were also killed in the crash, military officials have said.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines confirmed the crash of a light plane in Maguindanao del Sur province. The bodies of the four people were retrieved from the wreckage in Ampatuan town, said Ameer Jehad Tim Ambolodto, a safety officer of Maguindanao del Sur.
U.S. forces have been deployed in a Philippine military camp in the country’s south for decades to help provide training and advice to Filipino forces battling Muslim militants. The region is home to minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic nation.
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