Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesGigantic geoglyphs, known as the Nazca lines, were drawn by people belonging to the Nazca culture, around 1,600 years ago in Peru
ByGrace Eliza Goodwin
A small plane carrying tourists has crashed in Peru, killing all 13 people on board, according to local news reports and Peruvian officials.
The aircraft, a Cessna Caravan C-208, had been flying over Nazca Lines archaeological site when it went down on Saturday. Eleven passengers and two pilots were on board.
The passengers included two German, two Spanish and seven Italian tourists, Peru’s state news agency reported. The cause of the crash is not yet clear.
The Nazca Lines is a popular tourist attraction and Unesco World Heritage site in southern Peru that features ancient drawings of animals in desert sand. Tourists often fly in small planes to see the extent of the drawings.
“Given the severity of the accident, there are no survivors. We have recovered four bodies so far,” Police Major Jorge Andrade said, according to AFP.
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, Peru.
Video from Reuters news agency shows firefighters spraying water at the scene as smoke rises from the wreckage.
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”.
The statement said the plane belonged to local Peruvian airline Aerodiana.
In a statement, the airline said it would “assess its flight schedule in accordance with the directives of the relevant authorities”, according to Reuters.
The BBC has contacted the airline for comment.
This isn’t the first plane to crash over the famed site in the past few decades.
In 2022, another small tourist plane crashed during a flight over the Nazca Lines site, killing seven on board.
And in 2010, a tourist plane went down over the site, killing six people on board.