MANILA, Philippines -- No survivors have been found in the wreckage of an Air Force C-130 cargo plane that crashed and exploded with about 30 people aboard in the central Philippines, military officials said Thursday.
Twenty-four bodies were retrieved from the crash site on the hilly outskirts of Libmanan, 175 miles (280 km) southeast of Manila, said Air Force spokesman Col. Cicero Castillano.
'The plane is a total wreck,' said Air Force chief Maj. Gen. Nicasio Rodriguez, who visited the crash site Thursday.
The bodies of the victims were flown to Manila for identification, officials said.
The C-130, one of six delivered to the Philippines this year by the United States, was en route to Camarines Sur province to deliver relief supplies to victims of two typhoons that killed more than 300 people and devastated the area last week.
Rodriguez said officials are trying to determine how many passengers were aboard the plane when it went down in stormy weather seven minutes from Naga City airport.
'The flight manifest is misleading, as there were a lot of last- minute cancellations and additions,' Rodriguez said.
Among the people scheduled to be on the flight were a congressman and the wives of some Cabinet officials. But they backed out because of inclement weather.
Most of the passengers were medical and social workers who were bringing relief supplies to the typhoon-stricken provinces in the area. Castillano said the search of the area will continue, but rescue teams who reached the heavily forested crash site about 3:00 a.m. (1900 gmt) Thursday weren't expected to find any survivors.
The cause of the crash of the C-130 Hercules, considered one of the sturdiest planes in the world, was under investigation. But Defense Secretary Renato De Villa said bad weather was probably a factor in the acccident.
Authorities said the plane took off from a military airbase in Manila at 2:14 p.m. (0614 gmt) and disappeared at 2:50 p.m. (0650 gmt). Radio reports said the plane exploded upon impact.
