Eleven people killed in plane crash in northeastern France

by Christian Hartmann

TOMBLAINE, France, June 28 (Reuters) – A small plane crashed in the northeastern French town of Tomblaine on Sunday, narrowly missing nearby homes, killing 11 people, including a pilot and 10 paratroopers, local officials and an eyewitness said.

The plane, used by a parachute school and carrying five trainee parachutists and five instructors, crashed shortly after takeoff, officials said. French media reported that the trainees were a group of nurses.

An eyewitness who declined to be identified told Reuters that as the plane was climbing at around 11am local time (0900 GMT), the engine noise suddenly stopped, as if it had stopped. He said he did not see any signs of fire, explosion or other trouble before the crash.

Regional governor Yves Seguy told BFM that the plane crashed vertically into the ground. The accident occurred in a residential area near a shopping mall, when the wreckage of a single-engine plane came to rest on a bicycle path.

“Give or take a few metres, the crash could have resulted in secondary casualties,” Seguy said.

Media reports stated that the plane was registered in Germany. Germany’s foreign ministry did not immediately comment.

It was not immediately clear whether extreme heat played a role in the incident; The day before, the highest temperature ever recorded was recorded in Nancy, a city near Tomblaine.

The local prosecutor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The interior ministry said France’s interior minister and transport minister were on their way to the scene.

(Reporting by Christian Hartmann in Tomblaine, Makini Brice and Bertrand Boucey in Paris and Dave Graham in Zurich; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Ros Russell)