Eleven people have been killed after an aeroplane carrying skydivers crashed in a town in eastern France, officials have confirmed.
The pilot and all ten passengers died aboard the plane, which was used by a parachute school. Victims included five instructors and five other people - said to be nurses - who were planning to skydive for the first time.
The plane departed from Nancy-Essey airfield before crashing at Tomblaine at around 11am local time (10am BST).
Officials state the aircraft hit the ground close to the airfield and narrowly missed nearby houses. A shopping centre is also located nearby.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told media that the Paris prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into the cause of the incident.
Nuñez said there was "great solidarity" with the deceased's families who are being supported by medical and psychological staff and there was a "very strong emotion" when he visited the crash site.
It is understood several of the victims' families had gathered at the airfield to watch the first-time jump and witnessed the crash.
Mayor of Nancy Matthew Klein said some victims were killed "in full view of their loved ones", while another official added the relatives had suffered "considerable psychological trauma".
Yves Seguy, the prefect of Meurthe-et-Moselle, added: "Give or take a few metres and the accident could have caused collateral casualties."
Half of the those on board the plane were reported to be nurses who decided to take part in a team-building exercise to unwind, according to Thierry Pechey, president of a local nursing organisation.
The crash is the worst ever private plane accident in France, the country's BEA aviation safety agency states.
One witness said he did not see the crash but heard it from the road and soon came upon the wreckage of the scene, The BBC reports.
He said: "We saw right away that it was over, that they had all died instantly. There was no movement, and it was clear the impact had been too violent for there to be any survivors."
Mayor of Tomblaine Hervé Feron said the plane fell from the sky "in a completely unexplained manner", and that it was "too early to try to find explanations".
"Weather conditions might have played a role, or perhaps not at all, I really have no idea," he told BFM.
