A tragic event unfolded in a South Florida neighborhood as a small plane carrying a father and daughter, both on a mission of mercy, crashed while en route to deliver aid to Jamaica following a hurricane. The incident claimed the lives of Alexander Wurm, 53, and his daughter Serena Wurm, 22, according to Ignite the Fire, the Christian ministry they were associated with.

The ill-fated Beechcraft King Air aircraft went down in a pond amidst a residential area in Coral Springs, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, narrowly avoiding nearby homes. As of the latest updates, no additional casualties had been reported by investigators.

The Wurms were dedicated figures within Ignite the Fire, an organization committed to empowering young people through missions and evangelism throughout the Caribbean. The duo was on a humanitarian mission, bringing much-needed relief supplies to Jamaica when the tragedy struck.

In a heartfelt tribute shared on their social media, Ignite the Fire honored the Wurms, highlighting their unwavering passion for both humanitarian work and their Christian faith. “Their final journey embodied selflessness and courage, reminding us of the power of service and love,” the statement noted, concluding with, “Rest in peace, Alexander and Serena — your light endures in all whose lives you changed.”

“Together, their final journey embodied selflessness and courage, reminding us of the power of service and love,” the statement reads, adding, “Rest in peace, Alexander and Serena — your light endures in all whose lives you changed.”

The turboprop plane went down shortly after taking off from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport at approximately 10:14 a.m. on Monday, authorities said, with police and fire rescue responding to the crash site just five minutes later.

According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the plane was manufactured in 1976 and its registered owner is listed as International Air Services, a company that markets itself as specializing in providing trust agreements to non-U.S. citizens that enable them to register their aircraft with the FAA. A person who answered the company’s phone Monday afternoon declined to answer questions from a reporter, stating “no comment” and ending the phone call.

Posts by Alexander Wurm on social media in recent days suggested the evangelist had recently acquired the plane to further his missionary work across the Caribbean, describing the aircraft as “an older King Air with brand new engines,” and “perfect” to ferry his organization’s deliveries of generators, batteries and building materials to Jamaica.

“I’ve been a pilot since 2005 and I felt that the Ignite ministry should have a missions airplane if it wanted to effectively bless the Caribbean!” Wurm wrote in a social media post on Nov. 2.

“Perfect for the mission to bring relief goods into Montego Bay and the plane is ready just in time!” he added.

Photos and videos on social media show Wurm posing for a picture in the plane’s cockpit and unloading boxes of supplies from the packed aircraft with teams of volunteers.

The flight tracking website FlightAware shows the plane made four other trips to or from Jamaica in the past week, traveling between George Town in the Cayman Islands and Montego Bay and Negril in Jamaica, before landing in Fort Lauderdale on Friday.

The Coral Springs Police Department has said there will continue to be a significant police presence at the crash site Tuesday as investigators collect evidence. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the crash.

Broward County, where the plane took off from and where the crash occurred, is home to a vibrant Caribbean American community that sprang into action to collect relief supplies following Hurricane Melissa, which left a path of destruction in the Caribbean.

A powerful Category 5 storm, Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on Oct. 28 and tied for the strongest landfalling Atlantic hurricane in history. The storm also caused devastation in Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic and prompted relief organizations to mobilize.