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Crash near Nazca Lines
A small plane carrying tourists to view Peru's Nazca Lines archaeological site crashed in the Pueblo Viejo area, killing 13 people on board, police said on Saturday.
“We have information that 11 passengers and two crew members have died”
Police Major Jorge Andrade told reporters from the crash site in the country's south, "We have information that 11 passengers and two crew members have died," shortly after the plane took off from Pisco, located about 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of Lima.
Andrade said, "Given the severity of the accident, there are no survivors. We have recovered four bodies so far," as firefighters and police worked amid twisted, smoldering wreckage.
The crash occurred shortly after 1:00 pm (1800 GMT) after the plane departed from Pisco Airport, and Peru's civil aviation authority will investigate the incident.
Investigation and local details
Local media reports said the crash site was quickly engulfed in flames, preventing any rescues, after the plane departed from Pisco in the department of Ica.
Police Major Jorge Andrade said, "We have information that 11 passengers and two crew members have died," while the BBC reported the aircraft had been flying over the Nazca Lines archaeological site when it went down.
The BBC added that the crash happened around 13:00 local time (19:00 BST) in the Pueblo Viejo region after the plane departed from an airport in Pisco, and it said the plane belonged to local Peruvian airline Aerodiana.
In a statement in Spanish posted online by the Municipalidad Provincial de Nasca, officials expressed "deep sorrow" for the accident and extended "heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased."
Tourism stakes and history
The Nazca Lines are a UNESCO World Heritage Site described as "among archaeology’s greatest enigmas because of their quantity, nature, size and continuity," and they are typically viewed from the air because the geoglyphs can only be fully appreciated from above.
“UNESCO describes the site as “among archaeology’s greatest enigmas because of their quantity, nature, size and continuity””
The BBC said the crash is not the first over the famed site, noting that in 2022 another small tourist plane crash killed seven on board, and in 2010 a tourist plane went down over the site killing six people on board.
The Guardian reported that the plane crash occurred in Pueblo Viejo, approximately 4 miles (6km) from the city of Nazca and roughly 12km from the Nazca Lines site, and it said the cause of the crash is as yet unknown.
The Guardian also quoted a Nazca municipality statement saying, "The investigation of the accident and the oversight of aviation operations are the responsibility of the competent authorities, who will determine the causes and assign liability in accordance with the law."
