Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

Five die as light aircraft crashes in Portugal

-

Five people died when a Swiss-registered light aircraft crashed into a supermarket warehouse in the suburbs of Lisbon on Monday, rescue services said.

The fatalities comprised the pilot and all three passengers -- a Swiss and three French nationals -- who were aboard the aircraft, plus a Portuguese truck driver who was at the warehouse at the time, they said in a statement.

Three other people were slightly injured.

The warehouse, operated by the Lidl supermarket chain, is about a kilometre (half a mile) from an aerodrome at Tires, in the district of Cascais about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from central Lisbon.

The dead comprised the pilot, who was French according to Portuguese media, three passengers and the truck driver.

Two of the French victims were Marseille surgeon Jean-Pierre Franceschi, 65, and his wife Nathalie, Marseille mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin said in a statement late Monday.

Gaudin expressed his condolences to their families and paid tribute to the "internationally recognised orthopaedic surgeon (....) a leading authority in the sports world".

A knee specialist, Franceschi had notably operated on legendary former France striker Jean-Pierre Papin, the 1991 Ballon d'Or winner, and former France and Arsenal star Robert Pires.

According to a statement issued by the aerodrome, the plane belonged to Symbios Orthopaedics, a company based near Lausanne, Switzerland that specialises in orthopaedic prosthetics.

The twin-engine Piper PA-31 plane had just taken off on a flight to the southern French city of Marseille when it crashed, hitting a truck parked at the warehouse.

About 90 firefighters mobilised to fight a blaze, which was quickly put out. A neighbouring house was also damaged.

Portugal plane crash
Portugal plane crash
Jean Michel CORNU, Elia VAISSIERE, AFP

Five people died when a Swiss-registered light aircraft crashed into a supermarket warehouse in the suburbs of Lisbon on Monday, rescue services said.

The fatalities comprised the pilot and all three passengers — a Swiss and three French nationals — who were aboard the aircraft, plus a Portuguese truck driver who was at the warehouse at the time, they said in a statement.

Three other people were slightly injured.

The warehouse, operated by the Lidl supermarket chain, is about a kilometre (half a mile) from an aerodrome at Tires, in the district of Cascais about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from central Lisbon.

The dead comprised the pilot, who was French according to Portuguese media, three passengers and the truck driver.

Two of the French victims were Marseille surgeon Jean-Pierre Franceschi, 65, and his wife Nathalie, Marseille mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin said in a statement late Monday.

Gaudin expressed his condolences to their families and paid tribute to the “internationally recognised orthopaedic surgeon (….) a leading authority in the sports world”.

A knee specialist, Franceschi had notably operated on legendary former France striker Jean-Pierre Papin, the 1991 Ballon d’Or winner, and former France and Arsenal star Robert Pires.

According to a statement issued by the aerodrome, the plane belonged to Symbios Orthopaedics, a company based near Lausanne, Switzerland that specialises in orthopaedic prosthetics.

The twin-engine Piper PA-31 plane had just taken off on a flight to the southern French city of Marseille when it crashed, hitting a truck parked at the warehouse.

About 90 firefighters mobilised to fight a blaze, which was quickly put out. A neighbouring house was also damaged.

Portugal plane crash

Portugal plane crash
Jean Michel CORNU, Elia VAISSIERE, AFP

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

World

A Belgian man proved that he has auto-brewery syndrome (ABS), which causes carbohydrates in his stomach to be fermented, increasing ethanol levels in his...

World

Taiwan's eastern Hualien region was also the epicentre of a magnitude-7.4 quake in April 3, which caused landslides around the mountainous region - Copyright...

Tech & Science

Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends will manage the intellectual property rights Embracer has for "The Lord of the Rings" and the "Tomb Raider" games -...

Business

Honda hopes to sell only zero-emission vehicles by 2040, with a goal of going carbon-neutral in its own operations by 2050 - Copyright AFP...