A U.S. military plane crashed in a rice paddy in the southern Philippines on Thursday, killing all four people on board, U.S. and Philippine embassy officials said, The Associated Press reported.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines confirmed the plane crashed in Maguindanao del Sur province.
The plane that crashed in the southern province was chartered by the U.S. military, U.S. embassy spokeswoman Kanishka Gangopadhyay told The Associated Press, adding that the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would issue a more detailed statement on the crash.
The bodies of four people believed to be foreign nationals were recovered from the wreckage of the plane in Ampatuan town, said Amir Jehad Tim Ambolodto, the Maguindanao del Sur security official.
A water buffalo on the ground was killed in the crash, officials said.
American troops have been stationed at a Philippine military camp in the south of the country for decades to advise and train Filipino troops fighting Muslim militants. The region is home to a Muslim minority in the largely Roman Catholic country.