JUST IN: 11 Killed, Including Students, After Skydiving Plane Crashes

At least 11 people have died after a civilian aircraft carrying a group on a skydiving excursion crashed near an airport in eastern France on Sunday, authorities confirmed.

According to local officials, the victims included the pilot and 10 passengers. Among those on board were five students and five instructors who were taking part in a skydiving activity. Emergency services rushed to the scene, but no one survived the crash.

Following the accident, authorities sealed off the area around the airport and urged members of the public to stay away as rescue teams and investigators carried out their work.

The aircraft is believed to have been transporting participants for a recreational skydiving experience when it went down shortly after takeoff. The exact cause of the crash has not yet been determined, and investigators have launched an inquiry to establish what happened.

France’s Interior Minister, Laurent Nunez, travelled to the crash site to oversee the government’s response and receive updates from emergency officials.

Local reports indicate that several of the victims were self-employed nurses from Nancy who had signed up for their first-ever skydiving experience. Thierry Pechey, president of the Meurthe-et-Moselle branch of the Order of Independent Nurses, told local media that the victims are believed to have been members of the nursing profession.

Authorities have also established a medical and psychological support centre for grieving relatives, many of whom arrived at the scene shortly after the tragedy. Counselors are providing assistance as officials work to identify the victims and notify all affected families.

Investigators are expected to examine the aircraft’s maintenance records, weather conditions and other possible factors that may have contributed to the crash. Officials have not yet announced when preliminary findings will be released.

The deadly accident comes on the same day another aviation tragedy struck in Saudi Arabia, where 14 people were killed after a helicopter operated by oil giant Aramco crashed in Ras Tanura.

Saudi authorities said all those who died were Saudi nationals. The cause of the helicopter crash remains under investigation, while the Ministry of Energy expressed its condolences to the victims’ families and pledged full cooperation with investigators.