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A father and his daughter are among the victims of a small plane carrying a hurricane relief mission in Jamaica. crashed in a florida neighborhood,
Christian ministry organization Ignite the Fire on Monday morning identified the two victims of the crash as the group FounderAlexander Worm, 53, and his daughter Serena Worm, 22.
According to the organization, the pair were bringing humanitarian aid to Jamaica when the Beechcraft King Air plane they were flying crashed into a pond in a residential area in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Coral Springs, narrowly missing the home. As of Tuesday morning, investigators had not reported any other victims.
According to the organization’s website, Ignite the Fire is “dedicated to empowering youth through missions and evangelism across the Caribbean.” A statement on the group’s social media described the Wurm family as passionate about humanitarian work and their Christian faith.
“Together, their final journey was a symbol of selflessness and courage, reminding us of the power of service and love,” the statement said. “Rest in peace, Alexander and Serena – your light will live on in the lives of all whose lives you made a difference,” the statement read.
The turboprop plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport at about 10:14 a.m. Monday, with police and firefighters responding to the crash site just five minutes later, officials said.
According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the aircraft was manufactured in 1976 and its registered owner is listed as International Air Services, a company that specializes in providing non-US citizens with trust agreements that enable them to register their aircraft with the FAA. A person who answered the company phone Monday afternoon declined to answer a reporter’s questions by saying “no comment” and ended the phone call.
Alexander Worm’s posts on social media in recent days revealed that the preacher had recently acquired the plane to further his missionary work across the Caribbean, describing the plane as “an old King Air with a brand new engine” and “perfect” for the delivery of his organization’s generators, batteries and construction materials to Jamaica.
“I have been a pilot since 2005 and I felt that if Ignite Ministry wanted to effectively bless the Caribbean it had to have a mission airplane!” Wurm wrote in a social media post on Nov. 2.
“Perfect for the mission of bringing relief supplies to Montego Bay and the plane is ready just in time!” He added.
Photos and videos on social media showed Wurm posing for photos in the cockpit of a plane and unloading boxes of supplies from the packed plane with teams of volunteers.
Flight tracking website FlightAware shows the plane made four other trips out of Jamaica last week, traveling between Georgetown in the Cayman Islands and Montego Bay and Negril in Jamaica, before landing in Fort Lauderdale on Friday.
Broward County, where the plane took off and where the crash occurred, is home to a vibrant Caribbean American community that sprang into action to gather relief supplies after Hurricane Melissa left a path of destruction in the Caribbean.
A powerful Category 5 hurricane, Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on October 28 and went on to record as the strongest Atlantic hurricane in history. The storm also caused devastation in Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, prompting relief organizations to mobilize.