A small plane crashed into a mobile home park Thursday evening in Clearwater, Florida, sparking fires and causing several fatalities, according to the Clearwater Fire and Rescue Department.
Clearwater fire officials said a fire at Bayside Estates was reported at the same time first responders were sent north of the airport after receiving a report of an aircraft emergency, FOX35 reported.
When rescue crews arrived at the mobile home park, they found four trailers on fire, Fire Chief Scott Ehlers said. Later, fire officials said multiple other homes caught fire due to the crash, according to FOX35. (RELATED: Airplane Reportedly Crashes On Highway. Video Shows Fiery Aftermath)
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that a pilot had reported engine failure and that his plane, a Beechcraft Bonanza V35, crashed into Bayside Waters mobile home park at around 7:00 p.m., FOX35 reported.
Although Ehlers said that the plane was discovered “predominantly in one structure,” he confirmed “we have several fatalities, both from the aircraft and with the mobile home,” FOX35 reported.
Witnesses sent news outlets video of a large fire engulfing multiple homes in the park.
“It made my stomach hurt because you know that someone just died,” a witness told LiveNOW. “They were not going to live through that.”
“A mobile home doesn’t withstand much in the first place, so an aircraft crashing into it pretty much demolished that mobile home,” Ehlers told LiveNOW. “I’m proud of the response by Clearwater Fire Rescue, Largo Fire rescue, St. Pete Fire Rescue, but also Clearwater Airport aircraft response units.”
FAA and the National Transportation Board (NTSB) are currently investigating the crash and fire scene.
Authorities have since identified the victims, according to the Clearwater Police Department’s Facebook. The lone pilot of the aircraft was identified as Jemin Patel, 54, from Melbourne Beach, Florida. The Clearwater crash resulted in the deaths of Martha Parry, 86, a resident, and visitor Mary Ellen Pender, 54.
Nine individuals had reportedly been in the mobile home just before the crash.