Eleven people were killed in a plane crash in the town of Tomblaine in northeastern France on Sunday, Reuters reported citing the local prefecture. The aircraft crashed at around 11 AM local time, as per the prefecture.
The aircraft belonged to a parachuting school. The pilot and all ten passengers, five students and five instructors, died in the accident, the prefecture said.
The French Interior Minister is travelling to the crash site, the Interior Ministry announced.
The aircraft was a German-registered Pilatus, a model commonly used for parachute operations and skydiving, according to local media reports.
Emergency services rushed to the crash site as authorities initiated a major response operation. French daily L’Est Républicain had earlier reported that the aircraft was carrying a group of skydivers when it crashed.
A security perimeter has been set up around the site. The Meurthe-et-Moselle departmental police urged the public to avoid Rue Salvador Allende and not to travel to the area, so that emergency responders and law enforcement personnel could have clear and unobstructed access. Police also appealed to motorists to give way to priority vehicles.
Regional broadcaster France 3 Grand Est had earlier warned of a significant risk of explosion at the aircraft following the crash. The cause of the accident is not yet known, and authorities have launched an investigation.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Amaury Lacote told local media that the Public Prosecutor’s Office has assigned the forensic identification service and the Nancy-Metz Air Transport Gendarmerie Brigade to lead the inquiry.The plane crash also triggered a widespread power outage in the Tomblaine area, according to local reports.
