‘We are a resilient city’: Mayor Parker and other city officials stress unity and aid during town hall on deadly plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia

Unity was the message of the night Wednesday as Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and other city officials held a town hall to chart the likely difficult path ahead for community healing and rebuilding after last Friday’s devastating plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia.

The session, attended by more than 100 community members, was held at S. Solis-Cohen Elementary School, about half a mile from the site where a medical transport jet carrying six people crashed on Cottman Avenue.

City leaders outlined resources for housing, mental health, and financial support, including a new recovery fund that is accepting donations for victims at philacityfund.org/onephilly.

“We are a resilient city, and we know how to take care of each other,” Parker said.

One person in attendance told of pulling victims from a burning car, while others spoke of terrifying explosions and the lingering fear of even the sound of a helicopter flying overhead.

Earlier in the evening, people gathered a couple of blocks away in song and prayer during a vigil for the lives lost.

Seven people died and at least 24 were injured after a jet that took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport just after 6 p.m. Friday plummeted to the ground less than a minute later.

Valentina Guzmán Murillo, 11, and her mother, Lizeth Murillo Osuna, were on the plane returning home to Mexico after Valentina’s four months of treatment at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia for a spinal condition that would have been difficult to treat in her home country. Pilots Alan Montoya Perales and Josue de Jesus Juarez Juarez, and medical personnel Raul Meza Arredonda and Rodrigo Lopez Padilla, all of Mexico, were also on board.

Steven Dreuitt, 37, of Mount Airy, was killed in his car on Cottman Avenue, police said Wednesday, his vehicle enveloped in flames, according to witnesses.

At the town hall, the Red Cross and several city agencies were on hand to offer assistance. Parker said two people remain hospitalized in critical condition and 343 homes were affected in some way.

The city held a Multi-Agency Resource Center on Thursday at Friends Hospital. Billed as a “one-stop shop” for residents, the center offered services including help with replacing documents, accessing housing, and navigating insurance claims. Residents were able to get vouchers for clothing and other household items.

For residents struggling with their mental health, Parker stressed that the city’s 988 behavioral health hotline is available 24/7. The city will also set up a “recovery center” in the “near future” to assist with rehabilitation efforts in the crash zone, Parker said.

Some businesses in the area of the crash are inching their way back to normal. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Philadelphia Police Department’s forensics team have finished their on-site investigation, traffic has resumed on Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard, and most of Roosevelt Mall reopened Wednesday.

“This is the great city of Philadelphia, so I’m going to keep it real. This recovery process is going to be difficult, it’s going to be complex, it’s going to be long. It is not going to be easy. Well, when was anything in Philadelphia ever easy?” said Managing Director Adam K. Thiel.

He followed with an obligatory reference to Sunday’s Super Bowl, where the Eagles will face the Kansas City Chiefs: “It’s not going to be easy on Sunday, but we’re ready for that, too.”

The packed room burst into cheers.

Residents who spoke at the meeting thanked city officials and first responders, but some also highlighted issues in accessing aid or dealing with the trauma.

Posquale Dudley had been in his home on Rupert Street on Friday night while his girlfriend cooked dinner. The force of the crash blew him across the room. “It sounded like a bomb,” he said.

He hustled his girlfriend and their two children out of the house, then helped other bystanders pry open the doors of a burning car.

Inside were Dreuitt, his girlfriend, and his young son. Dudley and others managed to pull them from the car as first responders arrived on the scene. “It was like a horror movie,” he said.

Dudley said that he and his family were evacuated to a shelter at a nearby high school but felt uncomfortable sleeping on the cots offered there. They have been staying with family members, but came to Wednesday’s town hall in the hopes of moving into more permanent housing. After the meeting, Dudley said city staffers had offered him assistance finding housing.

Annie Proctor told the room that her family was traumatized and in shock. Her niece Dominique was Dreuitt’s girlfriend. Both she and the son, Ramesses, are fighting for their lives with significant burns, Proctor said.

When flames ripped through their car, Proctor said, Dominique managed to stay conscious long enough to tell bystanders like Dudley to get Ramesses out of the car.

For hours after learning she had been involved in the crash, the family had no word on Dominique, Proctor said. Now, they are praying for her survival.

Talking at the town hall about what the family had been through helped a bit, Proctor said.

“I feel like I’m not alone. But I do still feel alone. I’m the eldest of my family, and I’m watching their hurt and pain,” she said.

Harvey Garmeder, who was at a nearby diner at the time of the crash with his partner of 23 years, Miriam Rotch, was hit by a piece of flying debris and received four stitches in his forehead. He felt lucky to escape a concussion, he said, but has been having trouble with recurring thoughts of the crash.

At the town hall, city officials noticed him sitting near the front of the room. The crowd gave him a standing ovation.

“It’s comforting to hear other people went through the same thing,” Garmeder said. “There’s a lot of trauma.”

For those whose houses were not damaged, concerns remained about the recovery process. One woman said she worried about the structural integrity of her home — nearby houses had burned down.

Thiel, Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel, and Fire Commissioner Jeffrey W. Thompson praised the heroism of first responders who worked to rescue injured residents and extinguish jet fuel fires at a disaster scene that stretched for blocks.

That sentiment of togetherness coursed through the gathering at Cottman and Bustleton Avenues earlier Wednesday evening, where nearly 100 people congregated around seven crosses adorned with lit candles and flowers to pay tribute to the seven who died in the plane crash. Mexican flags waved in the air. A vibrant mural, created by traveling artist Roberto Marquez, was the poignant centerpiece of the evening.

Bobby Kallaur, 43, of Castor Gardens, said he believes the harrowing experience has brought the Northeast community closer together.

“I think the first responders did a great job, but I think that some of the community did come together to help each other,” Kallaur said. “That’s God’s love.”