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A small Mexican navy plane carrying a young medical patient and seven other people crashed on Monday galveston, texasKilling at least five people.
The eight people on board included four naval officers and four civilians, one of whom was a child. The two civilians were from a non-profit that assisted severely burned Mexican children and arranged for transportation to a Galveston hospital.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Luke Baker confirmed five deaths, although specific identities were not disclosed.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Mexico’s marines said in a statement that it was “expressing its deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this tragic accident.”
The accident occurred Monday afternoon in Galveston Bay near the base of the causeway connecting Galveston Island to the mainland.
Map of Galveston Bay:
Emergency responders and search crews arrived at the scene near the popular beach destination along the Texas coast, about 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) southeast. houston,
Sky Decker, a professional boat captain who lives about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the crash site, said he jumped into his boat to see if he could help. He said he picked up two police officers who escorted him through dense fog to the almost completely submerged plane. Decker jumped into the water and found a badly injured woman trapped under chairs and other debris.
“I couldn’t believe it. The air gap for her to breathe was probably 3 inches,” he said. “And there was jet fuel mixed in the water, the smoke was pretty bad. She was literally fighting for her life.”
He said they also pulled out a man sitting in front of him who was already dead. He described both of them as wearing civilian clothes.
Mexico’s Navy said the plane was helping in a medical mission in coordination with Michou and the Maui Foundation, which provides emergency transportation of children with life-threatening burns to the Shriners Children’s Hospital in Galveston, according to the nonprofit’s website.
“We express our deep solidarity with the families in light of these events. We share their grief with respect and compassion, honor their memory and reaffirm our commitment to providing humane, sensitive and dignified care to burned children,” the foundation said in a post on social media.
The Mexican Navy statement said the plane suffered an “accident” while on approach to Galveston, but did not provide details.
teams of Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have reached the accident site texas The Department of Public Safety’s XA spokesperson for the NTSB said on social platforms that they are “aware of this accident and are gathering information.”
The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office said its dive team, crime scene unit, drone unit and patrol officers were responding to the crash. It was not immediately clear whether weather was a factor. According to National Weather Service meteorologist Cameron Batiste, the area has been covered in fog for the past few days.
He said that fog spread around 2.30 pm on Monday afternoon, visibility of which was about half a mile.
Galveston is an island that is a popular beach destination.