At least five people are dead after a military plane from Mexico crashed into the water Monday afternoon in Galveston County, according to the Consulate General of Mexico in Houston.
The Secretariat of the Navy of Mexico wrote in a social media post that an aircraft from its department, conducting a medical support mission with the Michou y Mau Foundation, experienced an issue during its approach in Galveston. The foundation, according to its website, helps pediatric burn patients.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard told Houston Public Media that eight people were believed to have been on board the plane when it crashed at about 3:17 p.m. Monday just west of the Galveston Causeway, which connects the island to the mainland to the north.
A spokesperson for the Consulate General of Mexico in Houston, citing a Monday night update from the Secretariat of the Navy, wrote in an email to Houston Public Media that the patient on board the plane, identified as Federico Efraín Ramírez Cruz, was among those who died. So was another civilian passenger, Dr. Juan Alfonso Adame González.
Three personnel with the Mexican Navy also were among the deceased: Lt. Junior Grade Víctor Rafael Pérez Hernández, Lt. Junior Grade Juan Iván Zaragoza Flores and Seaman Guadalupe Flores Barranco. Another Navy officer on the plane, Lt. Junior Grade Luis Enrique Castillo Terrones, had not been located and was presumed to be dead, according to the office of the Consulate General.
Two civilian passengers survived the crash. They were identified as Julia Aracelis Cruz Vera, a companion of the patient, and a nurse named Miriam de Jesús Rosas Mancilla.
Galveston-area resident Sky Decker told Houston Public Media he was riding in his boat when he heard about the crash and went to the site to help, adding that he helped retrieve the body of a man who died as well as a woman who survived.
“She wasn’t saying much,” Decker said. “She was in a lot of pain. I think she was really banged up. Both of her legs were broken. And, um, she was asking about the baby, but I didn’t know about the baby.”
The Texas Department of Public Safety wrote in a Monday afternoon social media post that its troopers responded to the scene.TheGalveston County Sheriff's Office, in a post of its own, also said its deputies responded to the plane crash near the base of the causeway.
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