A skydiving plane has crashed in north-eastern France, killing all 11 people onboard, according to the region’s prefect.
The parachuting-school plane crashed near Nancy at 11am, said Yves Séguy, the prefect of the Meurthe-et-Moselle region.
The pilot and 10 passengers – five students and five instructors – died, the prefecture reported.
The plane suffered a malfunction. “fell almost vertically” after taking off from Nancy-Essey airfield on the outskirts of Nancy, Séguy said.
Séguy said: “The plane, which was transporting 11 people, fell suddenly immediately next to the aerodrome. There were no collateral victims.”
It crashed on the edge of a built-up area near the airfield, he told the broadcaster BFMTV. “Had it occurred just a few dozen metres away, the accident could have caused collateral casualties,” Séguy added.
Emergency services responded immediately, and authorities were collecting witness statements, he said.
The French interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, was on his way to the scene, his staff said.
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