Key takeaways:
- The crash killed the pilot and all 10 passengers aboard the skydiving aircraft.
- The passengers were five students and five instructors, local authorities said.
- Police told the public to “strictly avoid” the area around the Tomblaine airport while emergency crews and investigators worked.
Eleven people were killed Sunday when a civilian aircraft carrying skydivers crashed in Tomblaine, a town in eastern France, local authorities said.
The pilot and all 10 passengers died in the crash, officials said. The passengers included five students and five instructors who were aboard the aircraft for a skydiving trip.
Yves Seguy, the prefect of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department, told reporters near the scene that the plane went down at about 11 a.m. local time. He said emergency services responded immediately and that authorities were gathering statements from witnesses.
The aircraft had taken off from Nancy-Essey airfield and was being used by a parachutist school, local media reported, according to the BBC. The crash occurred in the area around the airport in Tomblaine, in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department.
Police urged the public to “strictly avoid” the area around the airport so emergency responders and law enforcement could reach and work at the crash site without obstruction.
Seguy said no bystanders were injured in the incident, Agence France-Presse reported, according to the BBC. Local officials also said relatives of the victims were present at the airfield when the crash happened.
France’s Ministry of the Interior said Interior Minister Laurent Nunez was on his way to the scene.
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