A young patient who had just completed life-saving hospital treatment, along with her devoted mother, have been named as victims of the tragic Philadelphia air ambulance crash that resulted in seven deaths on Friday.
Valentina Guzman Murillo, 11, and her mother Lizeth Murillo Ozuna, 31, from Mexico, have been confirmed as two of the victims in Friday's tragic crash that claimed seven lives in Northeast Philadelphia. The young girl, who had just received critical medical care in the United States, was happy and returning home to Mexico with her mother after her recovery on the Learjet 55 air ambulance when it crashed in a devastating fireball on a Philadelphia street.
Young Life Lost in Tragic Crash
The aircraft, operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, was en route to Tijuana, Mexico, with a planned stop at Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri, before it tragically fell from the sky.
The plane had just taken off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport when it crashed into a heavily populated area.
The crash took place near Roosevelt Boulevard and Cottman Avenue shortly after 6 p.m., just moments after the mother and daughter had left their final hospital visit.
Also, among the victims were Captain Alan Alejandro Montoya Perales, Copilot Josue de Jesus Juarez Juarez, Dr. Raul Meza Arredondo, and paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla—all Mexican nationals who had devoted themselves to ensuring the child's safe return.
A person on the ground at the time of the accident became the seventh victim of the tragic crash. The impact site, located near Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard, was quickly consumed by flames, with nearby buildings and vehicles also caught in the blaze.
Shai Gold, spokesperson for Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, said the child was happily traveling back to Tijuana with her mother, along with a doctor, paramedic, pilot, and copilot, as reported by NBC 10 Philadelphia.
"All I can say is the patient was sponsored by a third-partner charity to undergo life-saving treatment in the US," Gold said, adding, "She did her course of care. She was going home.
"She fought quite a lot to survive, and unfortunately this tragedy on the way home."
Murillo had been receiving treatment for various health complications related to a spinal condition since late August.
Killed in No Time
The Learjet 55, frequently utilized for urgent medical transport, serves as a vital resource for patients like the young girl who was on board. Shriners Children's Philadelphia confirmed that she had been one of their patients.
"Shriners Children's is heartbroken to confirm that one of our pediatric patients and the child's mother were aboard the Jet Rescue Air Ambulance that crashed in Philadelphia this evening," the facility said in a statement.
"The patient had received care from Shriners Children's Philadelphia and was being transported back to her home country in Mexico on a contracted air ambulance when the crash happened. Because of patient privacy concerns, we cannot say any more about the patient and her family at this time."
A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration said that the agency will be working alongside the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the tragic incident.
The Learjet 55 crash comes just days after a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair with an American Airlines flight over Washington, D.C., claiming the lives of all 67 people aboard both aircraft.
That incident on Wednesday marked the deadliest aviation disaster on U.S. soil since November 12, 2001, when an American Airlines jet crashed into a New York City neighborhood, killing 260 passengers—just two months after the 9/11 attacks.
