A tragic incident occurred in the southern Philippines on Thursday, resulting in the deaths of one American service member and three defense contractors due to the crash of a military-contracted aircraft in a rice field, as reported by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

The aircraft was engaged in a routine operation aimed at offering intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support at the behest of their Philippine allies. The command has announced that the investigation into the cause of the crash is currently underway.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines also verified the occurrence of a plane crash in the province of Maguindanao del Sur but did not immediately provide further information. Officials reported that the bodies of the four individuals were recovered from the wreckage in Ampatuan town, as confirmed by Ameer Jehad Tim Ambolodto, a safety officer in the region. The Indo-Pacific Command has stated that they are withholding the names of the deceased until their families have been notified.

Windy Beaty, a local disaster-mitigation officer, mentioned that there were reports from residents who observed smoke rising from the aircraft and heard a loud explosion before it descended rapidly, landing less than a kilometer from several farmhouses.

Fortunately, there were no reports of injuries among nearby individuals, and the crash site has since been sealed off by military personnel, according to Beaty. However, an unfortunate consequence of the incident was the loss of a local water buffalo that perished as a result of the crash, as stated by local officials.

For many years, U.S. forces have been stationed at a military camp in the southern Philippines, providing guidance and training to Filipino troops in their fight against Muslim militant groups. This area is notably the ancestral land of the nation’s minority Muslim population within a predominantly Roman Catholic country.