Tourist plane crash at Peru’s Nazca Lines kills all 13 on board

A tourist plane has crashed at the famous Nazca Lines in Peru, killing all 11 passengers and two crew who were on board.

The crash happened at around 1pm local time in the Pueblo Viejo region, after the small plane took off from an airport in Pisco.

According to Peru’s state news agency, there were two German, two Spanish and seven Italian tourists on the flight.

Peruvian radio station RPP said they ranged from 18 to 78 years old.

The Nazca Lines are enormous figures drawn into the desert sand by people who lived in the area around 1,600 years ago.

Their scale – with one pelican figure measuring 285 metres long – has prompted many questions about their purpose, as they can only be fully appreciated from the air.

In 1994, the site was added to Unesco’s World Heritage List and it continues to attract visitors from across the world.

Images from the scene of yesterday’s crash show smoke rising from the barely identifiable wreckage.

Police Major Jorge Andrade was quoted by AFP saying: ‘Given the severity of the accident, there are no survivors. We have recovered four bodies so far.’

Sightseeing flights over the geoglyphs had been temporarily suspended on Friday due to wins speeds of over 40km/h and resulting dust clouds.

However, the cause of the crash is yet to be fully established.

A statement from the Municipalidad Provincial de Nasca said the aircraft was operated by the Aerodiana airline.

It said the province ‘extends its heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased’.

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