MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine officials say a New Zealand couple was among nine people killed in a small plane that was conducting a medical airlift when it crashed and exploded in flames at a resort south of Manila and investigators are trying to determine what caused the tragedy.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Wellington said Monday it is providing consular assistance to the family of the couple "who sadly died in the plane crash in the Philippines," but that it could not provide any other information for privacy reasons.

Philippine authorities identified the couple as Tom Carr and Erma Carr, a Filipina with New Zealand citizenship. Officials are investigating why the Beechcraft King Air plane carrying the couple and seven Filipinos crashed Sunday in Pansol village as it approached its destination, Manila.