The air ambulance was traveling from Northeast Philadelphia Airport to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri when it crashed around 6:30 p.m. near the Roosevelt Mall.
Moment of impact:
One person in a car was one of the four fatally killed in an air ambulance that crashed near a Northeast Philadelphia mall on Friday night. It was carrying six people.
Capt. Alan Alejandro Montoya Perales, Copilot Josue de Jesus Juarez, Dr. Raul Meza Arredondo, Rodrigo Lopez Padilla, Valentina Guzman Murillo, and Lizeth Murillo Ozuna have been identified as those on the aircraft. According to Jet Air Ambulance, the young patient on whom they provided medical attention in Philadelphia is the young Valentina Guzman Murillo with her mother Lizeth.
However, Jet Rescue Air Ambulance reported that it was unlikely anyone survived the crash. While other details about the victims were not disclosed immediately, Mayor Cherelle Parker reported that the number of victims injured on the ground, where several “dwellings and vehicles” were damaged, had risen to 19.
“We can confirm that there are also a number of other victims who were injured in this incident, and they are being treated in area hospitals,” Parker declared in a news conference early on Saturday morning. This incident tells not only a tragic tale of loss of life but also a story about the community.