Two men have died after a small plane crashed in a city park while a third passenger made a lucky escape.
The horror crash happened yesterday in Guayaquil City, Ecuador, South America, sending shockwaves through residents living on the nation's Pacific coast.
Shocking video footage, taken by local resident Kike Gerzam, shows the burning aircraft lying upside down between the street and an entrance to a small park in La Alborada, where a telegraph pole also caught fire.
City mayor Cynthia Viteri said she was only two streets away from the crash site at the time of the incident.
She told reporters at the scene how the 'brave' pilot prevented further casualties by 'zigzagging' in the air while looking for the safest place to crash land.
Mayor Viteri, 56, said: “The pilot looked for, because we could see it, a place where to crash.
“He was almost zigzagging in the air. He found a park, and he crashed in the park so as not to affect the home of any of the people who are here and not to lose any more lives.”
“It is a tragedy where someone with expertise prevented more people from dying.”
Ecuador's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) confirmed that three passengers were onboard the aircraft at the time.
Two men, identified as Captain Juan Guzman and Captain Edgar Rosero, died at the scene.
The third passenger, Captain Cristian Armendariz, was rescued from the blaze and was rushed to a nearby hospital.
The emergency services arrived on the scene to deal with the wreckage and restore power in the area after the plane hit a nearby telegraph pole.
The cause of the crash is currently unclear and investigations are ongoing.
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