11 Killed As Plane Carrying Group Of Skydivers Crashes In France

Tomblaine: A small civilian plane crashed in northeastern France on Sunday, leaving all 11 people on board dead. The incident took place in the town of Tomblaine.

Emergency services have rushed to the scene and police have sealed off the area. As per local reports, it is believed that the plane was carrying a group of skydivers and the deceased include the pilot and 10 passengers, including five students and five instructors. 

The aircraft crashed after taking off from Nancy-Essey aerodrome.

Yves Seguye, prefect of Meurthe-et-Moselle, has decided to activate the departmental operational center (COD) in the presence of all operational services in order to ensure real-time monitoring of the event. “The plane fell almost vertically, in the immediate vicinity of a housing estate, on the edge of the airfield prefect of the eastern department of Meurthe-et-Moselle,” Seguye told local media, adding that no bystanders were injured in the incident.

Visuals from the cordoned-off crash site showed the plan lying on the ground, surrounded by emergency service officials. 

An eyewitness told Reuters, “We saw right away that it was over, that they had all died instantly. There was no movement, and it was clear the impact had been too violent for there to be any survivors.”

This comes just a week after another plane crashed in France, killing Claude Guillemot, the founder of video game series 'Assassin's Creed' maker Ubisoft.