A U.S. military-contracted plane crashed in the Philippines on Thursday killing all four people on board, officials said.
The crash happened around 2 p.m., local time, in Ampatuan, a municipality in the southern province of Maguindanao del Surf, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The plane, which appeared to be carrying four foreign nationals, was contracted by the U.S. military, U.S. Embassy spokesperson Kanishka Gangopadhyay confirmed
The plane crashed in a rice field about half a mile from a cluster of farmhouses, according to Windy Beaty, a provincial disaster-mitigation officer
There were no reported injuries on the ground, though a water buffalo was reportedly killed in the crash.
The plane was a Beech King Air 350, a twin-engined turboprop aircraft that is typically outfitted with two cabin zones and has a range of 1,440 nautical miles (approximately 1,600 miles), the Philippine News Agency said.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines confirmed that a small plane had crashed in the Maguindanao del Sur province, but didn’t provide any details.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said it will provide more details about the crash, according to the U.S. Embassy spokesperson.
Last week, a Philippine national died in the collision between an American Airlines jet and a U.S. Army Helicopter near Washington, D.C. that killed 67 people.
Pergentino Malabed Jr., a Philippine National Police officer, was “fulfilling his duty as a dedicated police officer” at the time of the crash, the Philippine Embassy has confirmed. “His untimely passing is a profound loss to the PNP, where he served with honor, integrity and dedication throughout his career,” the PNP said in a statement.