A military plane has crashed into a residential area in the southern Philippines, killing a senior air force commander and seven other people aboard, officials say.
There were no immediate reports of casualties on the ground in Cotabato city, said national police spokesman Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina.
The twin-prop Nomad aircraft crashed on Thursday shortly after taking off and burst into flames, setting fire to two houses that it had hit, regional military commander Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer said.
Television footage showed one charred body among the flaming debris as people tried to help firemen put out the blaze, some dousing the fire with garden hoses.
The plane had stopped in Cotabato on its way from Davao city to Zamboanga city, Ferrer said.
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The pilot radioed soon after takeoff to say the plane had an emergency and was heading back when it crashed, Civil Aviation Authority deputy director Ed Kapunan told DZBB radio.
