At least 17 people have died after a military plane crashed and broke up in flames in the southern Philippines.
The Philippine Air Force's Lockheed C-130 transport aircraft with 92 people on board crashed at Patikul in the Sulu province after a mishap on landing at Jolo island, the air force said.
A total of 17 bodies have been recovered and at least 40 people have been rescued and are now being treated in hospital, Defence Minister Delfin Lorenzana confirmed.
It was feared the death toll would climb as desperate rescue efforts continued.
Pictures from the scene of the crash on Sunday morning showed bright orange flames and thick grey smoke pouring from the wreckage of the aircraft among trees.
A large column of black smoke rose into the blue sky.
Dramatic video footage at the scene showed the plumes of smoke rising as commotion and coughing could be heard in the background.
The Defence Minister told Reuters the plane had been carrying 92 people, including three pilots and five other crew members.
Military chief Cirilito Sobejana said the plane had "missed the runway trying to regain power."
A military spokesman, Colonel Edgard Arevalo, said there was no indication of any attack on the plane, but that a crash investigation had not begun and efforts were currently focused on rescue and treatment.
The plane crashed in an area where troops have long been fighting Islamist militants.
Sobejana said the plane had crashed a few kilometres from Jolo airport at 11:30 a.m (0330 GMT) and had been carrying troops.
"We are currently attending to the survivors who were immediately brought to the 11th Infantry Division station hospital in Busbus, Jolo, Sulu," he said.
Helicopters were deployed to transport the injured to hospital.
Al Jazeera said the C-130 is one of the newly acquired planes by the Philippines Air Force.
The area where the tragic crash happened was said to be 'home to one of the huge bases of the Philippines military'.
The incident comes after it was reported a private plane crashed in Haiti killing all six people on board including two American missionaries.
The plane went down on Friday evening, on a short flight from a Port-au-Prince airport to the southern coastal city of Jacmel, the National Civil Aviation Office reportedly said.
The cause of the disaster was not immediately known but it reported that the plane crashed into a mountain.
