Tributes pour in for girl, 11, flying home from life-saving treatment with mom among 7 killed in Philadelphia jet crash
THE 11-year-old girl killed in the Philadelphia plane crash after undergoing life-saving treatment has been identified.
Touching tributes have started to pour in for young Valentina Guzman Murillo after the tragic jet disaster that also left six others dead including her mom.
Harrowing footage from Friday showed a fireball erupting in front of terrified onlookers after a medical jet plunged from the sky – killing all on board as well as a driver on the ground.
The crash left debris and burnt out vehicles strewn across up to six different blocks areas just days on from the Washington DC aviation disaster.
Mayor Cherelle Parker confirmed in a statement on Saturday all on board had died, including the girl, her mother, a doctor, paramedic, pilot and co-pilot.
The child had been in recovery after a major procedure back in September and was heading home to Mexico on the medical transport jet.
Reports initially said she could of been as young as six.
Lizeth Murillo Ozuna, 31, has now been named as Valentina’s mom, by the mayor of Ensenada, Mexico.
Also killed in the crash were Captain Alan Alejandro Montoya Perales, Copilot Josue de Jesus Juarez Juarez, Dr. Raul Meza Arredondo and paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla.
Mayor Parker also said a driver on the ground was killed when the plane smashed into a road – with dozens left injured.
Three remain in a critical condition with five in hospital.
Shai Gold, a spokesman for Jet Rescue Air Ambulance who owned the plane, praised the girl’s bravery.
Gold said: “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.”
She was reportedly receiving treatment for multiple medical problems linked to a spinal condition.
The girl was a patient of Shriners Children’s Philadelphia and had been in the US for a few months, the hospital confirmed.
They announced: “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.”
Everyone on board the flight was from Mexico with the jet’s final destination supposed to be Tijuana.
DEADLY CRASH
Terrifying dashcam footage showed the plane falling from the sky in a streak of white.
A bright orange fireball erupts into the sky and lights up the night following the deadly impact.
It is said to have hit several buildings as it descended into a residential neighborhood near a mall and a busy intersection just after 6pm on Friday.
The Learjet 55 had taken off less than a minute earlier from Northeast Philadelphia Airport before it plunged to the ground, the FAA said.
It was due to stop in Springfield-Branson National Airport, Missouri.
One eyewitness told local news site WPVI the crash was “horrific” and said it was “Earthquak-ish.”
They said: “I was just driving down the street, coming to Wendy’s and I just saw a plane basically hit the building and it exploded.
“The sky light up and I pulled over and basically, it was just real bad around here. It lit up the whole sky.”