A tragic aviation disaster struck a Philadelphia neighbourhood on Friday evening when a small medical plane crashed into several buildings in northeast Philadelphia.
According to the city’s mayor, all the six people on board and at least one other person on the ground died.
All six aboard were Mexican nationals.
Another person who was in a car on the ground at the time of the crash was killed, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said.
Nineteen others were injured, though the city leader said that number could change.
Speaking at the same press conference on Saturday, Philadelphia city managing director Adam Thiel said it would probably be “days or more” until officials can “definitively answer the question about the number of folks who perished in this tragedy and the outcome of those who were injured.”
He added that “a lot of unknowns about who was where on the streets of this neighbourhood last night at the time of impact.”
Mayor Parker said in an earlier statement that flight logs show the plane was in the air “for only a minute” before it crashed.
Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro called it an “awful aviation disaster.”
Videos of the incident show the plane coming down quickly and sparking a huge fireball.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that all six people were from that country.
“I mourn the passing of six Mexicans in the aviation accident in Philadelphia, United States,” she said in a statement translated from Spanish.
“My solidarity with their loved ones and friends,” she added.
The Mexican foreign ministry said personnel at the country’s consulate in Philadelphia were in contact with next-of-kin.
The girl on the plane, from Tijuana, Mexico, had received an unspecified treatment at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia, said hospital spokesman Mel Bower.
Mr Bower said the girl’s treatment had ended and she was on her way home, and that there had been “a send-off” at the hospital for her earlier on Friday.
He added that two doctors on the plane were from the Jet Air Rescue Air Ambulance.
The BBC’s US partner, CBS, reported that the plane left Northeast Philadelphia Airport at about 18:07 local time and crashed less than 4 miles (6.4km) away moments later.
It was bound for Springfield, Missouri.
The first emergency calls went out at about 18:12, it added.
In a statement, a local state representative, Jared Solomon, said, “In a time of profound tragedy, I was inspired to witness hundreds of our first responders sprinting towards danger to ensure the safety of our neighbourhood.”
