Share to ClassroomTourist Plane Crash in Peru Kills 13
Thirteen people died on Saturday in a plane crash in southern Peru. The small plane had just taken off for a sightseeing flight over the Nazca Lines, a group of famous ancient drawings in the desert. Police said the plane lost contact with the control tower and came down near the city of Nazca at about 1.20pm. The dead were seven Italians, two Germans, two Spaniards and the two pilots. There are no survivors, a senior police officer told reporters.
The Nazca Lines are huge figures cut into the desert many hundreds of years ago. They show shapes like a bird, a monkey and a whale, and people can only see them properly from the air. For this reason, several companies sell short flights over the area, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors a year. This was not the first accident. Seven people died in 2022, and other crashes killed tourists in 2010 and 2008.
The cause of the crash is not yet known, and Peruvian officials have started an investigation. President Keiko Fujimori said she was sorry about the accident. She said the local airport might close for a short time. Peru's tourism ministry said it felt deep sorrow for the tourists and crew who died. The airline said it would look again at its flights.
