A little girl and her mother who died when an air ambulance crashed into a densely populated part of Philadelphia have been pictured for the first time. Lizeth Murillo Ozuna, 31, and her 11-year-old daughter Valentina Guzman Murillo died after their plane crashed into the Pennsylvania city on Friday. The pair, from Mexico, were two of seven people who died in the disaster, which took place just a few days after a helicopter and plane smash in Washington DC rocked the US.
Young Valentina had only recently undergone vital life-saving treatment, and spent four months at Shriner's Children's hospital Philadelphia, during which time she had grown "incredibly close" to her carers. She and her mother were heading to Tijuana when the ambulance, a Learjet 55, crashed to the ground. The jet had made course for a stopover at Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri when it hit the Roosevelt Boulevard and Cottman Avenue just after 6pm.
The mum and daughter died alongside ambulance staffers Captain Alan Alejandro Montoya Perales, Copilot Josue de Jesus Juarez Juarez, Dr Raul Meza Arredondo, and paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla. Cherelle Parker, the mayor of Philadelphia, said in a statement that "many people" were injured as the jet hit a highly populated part of the city. But she was not able to specify at the time how many people had been injured following the disaster. Some people were taken to Temple University Hospital's Jeanes Campus, the mayor added, but said others may have been taken elsewhere. The plane was in the air "for only a minute" before the crash, the mayor added.
Audio preceding the crash obtained by CBS News showed that air traffic controllers were unsure as to what had happened when the aircraft went down. Air traffic controllers could be heard saying: "We have a lost aircraft. We're not exactly sure what happened so we're trying to figure it out. For now, the field is going to be closed.". A second person can be heard stating an "accident" had taken place near Northeastern Philadelphia airport. They say: "It looks like there might be an accident near Northeast Philly airport. They are closing the airport indefinitely." Witnesses at the scene told how they saw a burst of light as the plane exploded on the ground, flinging shrapnel into nearby cars.
