The city has created a website that enables people to make a financial contribution to victims of the Jan. 31 airplane crash on Cottman Avenue, near the Roosevelt Mall.
The address is PhilaCityFund.org/OnePhilly.
Victims impacted by the crash will be able to submit a request for support from the fund.
Mayor Cherelle Parker announced the fund on Wednesday night during a town hall meeting at Solis-Cohen Elementary School.
Parker was joined by members of her administration, elected officials and city and state agencies.
The shelter at Fels High School closed Tuesday night. Anyone seeking shelter is asked to call 800-RED CROSS.
Anyone seeking mental health assistance can call 988 24 hours a day.
In all, 343 residences were impacted.
Seven people died, including six people on board the medical jet that crashed at 6:07 p.m. on the 2300 block of Cottman Ave.
Steven Dreuitt, 37, also died. He was inside a vehicle when the crash happened.
Another 24 people were injured, including four who remain hospitalized, two of whom are in critical condition and two of whom are stable.
One of those injured, Harvey Garmeder, of Bell’s Corner, was at the town hall. He was at the Four Seasons Diner, on the other side of the Boulevard, when a piece of debris of the plane hit him in the head. A video captured the incident, with the debris knocking off Garmeder’s hat. He received a few stitches on his forehead at Jeanes Hospital. His girlfriend, Miriam Roth, is shown in the video, which has been viewed millions of times, standing up and walking away just before the debris crashed through the window, startling customers and staff.
At the town hall, Parker called for a moment of silence for those injured and killed in the crash.
Parker thanked first responders, the American Red Cross, hospital workers and city, state and federal agencies.
“My mouth can’t say, ‘Thank you,’ enough,” she said.
Fire Commissioner Jeffrey Thompson said he was impressed with the “teamwork” he saw in the aftermath of the crash.
Meanwhile, Cottman Avenue and the Roosevelt Mall have reopened.
City Managing Director Adam Thiel said workers did “an incredible job” getting Cottman Avenue reopened. Thiel also said anyone who finds debris should call 911 or go to NTSB.gov.
The aircraft, a Learjet 55 en route to Missouri, departed from Northeast Philadelphia Airport at 6:06 p.m., about 3.5 miles away from the crash site. The small medical service jet reached 1,500 feet, with the crash taking place about 30 seconds after takeoff.
There were six people on board – a girl who had just completed treatment at Shriners Hospital for Children, 3551 N. Broad St.; the girl’s mother; and four crew members.
The plane belonged to Mexico-based Jet Rescue Air Ambulance. It was to re-fuel in Missouri en route to its final destination in Tijuana, Mexico, near the border with San Diego. ••
