Updated @10:25 p.m., March 29, 2020

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MANILA, Philippines — A Lionair West Wind 24 aircraft caught fire and exploded on a runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at 8 p.m. Sunday night, killing all eight people on board.

“The runway has been temporarily closed, as investigators from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board of the Civil Aeronautics Authority of the Philippines are now on-site to determine the cause of the incident,” the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said in a statement issued shortly after the incident.

The MIAA confirmed that no passenger survived the accident. The plane caught fire then exploded as it was taking off on runway 24. The fire was put out at 9:02 p.m.

The Lionair plane Flight RPC 5880 was carrying eight passengers — a flight medic, nurse, doctor, three flight crew, a patient, and a companion. The flight was on a medEvac mission to Haneda, Japan, MIAA said.

The plane belongs to Lionair Inc., which is owned by Archie Po and is different from Lion Air, an Indonesian airline company.

In tweets, Sen. Richard Gordon said the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), of which he is the chairman, had dispatched medic teams to the scene.

Our fire and medic teams were already dispatched to NAIA Terminal 2 to respond to the plane crash incident involving Lion Air Flight RPC 5880. 8 passengers consisting of a flight medic, nurse, doctor, three flight crew, one patient and its companion were on board. — Richard J. Gordon (@DickGordonDG) March 29, 2020

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Photos from our team on the ground. pic.twitter.com/5SYvVxkcZk — Richard J. Gordon (@DickGordonDG) March 29, 2020

/muf /atm

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