Eleven people have been killed in a plane crash in the town of Tomblaine in north-eastern France, the local prefecture says.
The plane belonged to a skydiving school.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez arrives for a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris AP
The pilot and all 10 passengers – five students and five instructors – died in the accident about 11am (7pm AEST) on Sunday, Yves Seguy, the prefect of the Meurthe-et-Moselle region, told reporters near the scene of the crash.
Emergency services responded immediately, and authorities were collecting witness statements, he said.
Seguy told broadcaster BFM the aircraft appeared to suffer damage before plunging vertically to the ground. The crash occurred in a built-up area near a shopping centre.
“Give or take a few metres and the accident could have caused collateral casualties,” Seguy said.
The local prosecutor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez was on his way to the scene, the interior ministry said.
Séguy said the crash shocked witnesses who saw it.
“We are deploying all available resources,” he said, including emergency medical teams, fire services, police and mental health support for the victims’ families.
A local resident, identified as John Curaku by BFM-TV, told the broadcaster that he was in his garden when he heard what sounded like a plane’s engine stopping, immediately followed by a bang.
He said he went to the crash site and “there were no signs of life”, with two of the bodies thrown a few metres from the plane.
– Reported with Reuters and AP