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CAUAYAN CITY, Isabela — The pilot and the five passengers on board the Cessna plane that went missing in Isabela province on Jan. 24 were confirmed dead Thursday, March 9, as search teams finally located the aircraft’s wreckage.
The incident management team said the six-seat Gen AV Cessna 206 was found in the forest of Barangay Ditarum in Isabela’s Divilacan town.
“A group of researchers from Maconacon and DRRM (Disaster Risk and Reduction Management) office found the wreckage of the missing Cessna plane that we are looking for in the past 44 days,” Watu Foronda, head of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council of Isabela, said in an online briefing.
“Sadly there were no survivors,” he added.
Authorities identified the pilot as Captain Eleazar Mark Joven and his passengers, Val Kamatoy, 34; Kamatoy’s nephews Rom Josthle Manday, 15, and siblings Mark Eiron Siguerra, 20, and Xam Siguerra, 10; and Josefa Perla Espana.
Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Officer Ezekiel Chavez said the recovery of their remains would take up to three days due to challenges posed by the terrain and inclement weather.
“Based on our estimates, they will reach the area in three days, the troops are now on their way there,” Chavez said, partly in Filipino.
Afterwards, the body will be transported to Cauayan town.
The plane went missing after it took off at 2:16 p.m. from the Cauayan Domestic Airport. It was scheduled to arrive at 3 p.m. that day at Maconacon airport, some 60 kilometers away. INQ
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