Bodies of Cessna plane crash victims in Isabela turned over to families

Air Force-Tactical Operations Group 2 crew members carry the remains of the victims who died in a plane crash in Isabela province in this photo taken on Tuesday, March 14. (Photo courtesy of Army’s 5th Infantry Division)

CAUAYAN CITY—Grieving families on Tuesday (March 14) claimed the bodies of the six people who died when a Cessna plane (RP-C1174) crashed on Jan. 24 in Divilacan town, Isabela province.

The bodies were airlifted from Divilacan after days of retrieval and were taken to a funeral parlor in Nagrumbuan village in this city, where the families gathered, declining media interviews.

According to the Incident Management Team, the remains of Val Kamatoy, Mark Eiron Esguerra, Xam Esguerra, and Rom Joshtle Manday were placed in caskets and will be transferred to their residences in Silang, Cavite for a wake.

The body of Josefa Perla Espana will be brought to her home town of Claveria in Cagayan province.

In a previous interview, Anna May Kamatoy, mother of the Esguerra brothers, said it would take a long time “before the pain will be healed.”

The remains of the aircraft’s pilot, Air Force Capt. Eleazar Mark Joven, were cremated and will be transported to Nueva Ecija for a wake.

Earlier, Col. Sadiri Tabutol, Philippine Air Force Tactical Operations Group 2 (TOG2) commander, said the remains of the victims arrived at the TOG2 center in this city early Tuesday after being airlifted by a Super Huey 122 helicopter from Isabela’s Divilacan town, where the crash site was found on March 9.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAAP) investigators from CAAP’s Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board also arrived at the crash site to conduct a field investigation.

The crash site was located 44 days after it went missing in the Sierra Madre forests of Barangay Ditarum in Divilacan.

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JPV