A U.S. Marine and three defense contractors were killed after their aircraft crashed in the southern Philippines on Thursday, according to a defense official and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said.
The crash occurred during a routine mission, the command said. The aircraft was conducting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance at the request of -- and in support of -- the Philippines.
The command is withholding the identities of the deceased until it can complete next-of-kin notifications, which is customary after such incidents. The crash occurred in the Philippine province of Maguindanao del Sur.
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"We can confirm no survivors of the crash," the command's statement said. "The cause of the crash is currently under investigation and we have no further details to release at this time."
A defense official confirmed to Military.com on Thursday that the service member who died in the crash was a Marine.
Reuters reported that a provincial government team recovered the deceased from the wreckage of a Beech King Air 300 plane contracted by the U.S. military. It specifically went down around 2 p.m local time in a rice field in Ampatuan town, located in the province, the publication said.
The Indo-Pacific Command statement also confirmed it was contracted to the U.S. military. The Philippines Civil Aviation Authority confirmed the crash as well, but did not provide other details.
The Associated Press reported that nobody in the surrounding area was injured or killed at the crash site, which troops have closed off, citing a provincial disaster-mitigation officer.
There were no other details about the service member at the time of publication.
The Marine Corps -- and military in general -- routinely conducts missions in the Indo-Pacific as part of the Pentagon's efforts to curb Chinese influence in the region and works with partner nations such as the Philippines.
It has also operated in the specific region of the crash to train Filipino troops combating Muslim militants, The Associated Press reported.
Indo-Pacific Command is one of six combatant commands and is responsible for protecting and defending "the territory of the United States, its people, and its interests" with allied nations in the Asia-Pacific region, according to its website.
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