TOMBLAINE, June 29: A skydiving plane crashed Sunday in the eastern town of Tomblaine, killing all 11 people on board, local authorities said, in one of France's deadliest light aircraft accidents.
The crash killed five instructors, five students, and the pilot, said Yves Seguy, the prefect of the eastern department of Meurthe-et-Moselle.
"There were no bystanders among the victims," he added, speaking at a press conference.
Medical and psychological support teams were caring for relatives of the victims who were present at the airfield, as well as other witnesses, he said.
The students were a group of nurses, according to a source close to the case.
The aircraft, registered in Germany, crashed in a grassy area near the runway of the Nancy-Essey aerodrome, close to a residential area and two roads, an AFP journalist reported.
Elite Skydiving Company addresses objections to skydiving activ...
The cause of the incident was not immediately clear.
A technical investigation had been opened, said Amaury Lacote, deputy public prosecutor in the eastern city of Nancy.
Police urged people on the social media platform X to "strictly avoid" the area around the airport to allow emergency services access.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez is expected to visit the scene of the accident in the late afternoon, according to his staff.
--Aramco helicopter crash kills 14 in Saudi Arabia—
A helicopter crash in Saudi Arabia killed 14 Saudi citizens on Sunday, the kingdom's official press agency reported, adding that the aircraft belonged to state oil giant Aramco.
The Saudi Press Agency, citing an official at the energy ministry, reported the helicopter crashed in Ras Tanura in the country's east.
"The accident claimed the lives of all 14 passengers, all Saudi citizens," the agency said, adding that an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the crash.
Aramco says it operates more than 60 aircraft, including helicopters serving more than 300 heliports in Saudi Arabia, making it one of the largest corporate fleets in the region.
The deadly accident comes as oil-rich Gulf nations seek to ramp up their output following Iranian attacks and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the export of oil and gas.
The Gulf monarchy did not indicate the incident was in any way connected to a hostile attack.
During the Middle East war, Iranian attacks had targeted energy facilities in the Gulf.
Ras Tanura is home to one of the largest refineries in the Middle East, with a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day, and is critical to Saudi Arabia's energy sector.
The refinery has been targeted several times, notably during an Iranian drone attack at the beginning of the conflict, which caused a fire and forced a partial shutdown.
Riyadh said in April that the weeks-long attacks had disrupted several production operations at key facilities, with refineries in Ras Tanura as well as Jubail, Yanbu and Riyadh targeted.
Saudi Arabia, the world's leading crude exporter, produces a little over 10 million bpd.
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