A small sightseeing plane crashed in southern Peru on Saturday, killing all 13 people on board during a flight over the Nazca Lines, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the coastal desert.
The Aerodiana aircraft departed from Pisco airport, roughly 240 kilometres south of Lima, and went down shortly after 1 p.m. local time in a field in Nazca province. Police Major Jorge Andrade confirmed that 11 passengers and two pilots died in the crash. Several passengers were reportedly European nationals, including Italians, Spaniards and Germans, though authorities have not officially confirmed nationalities.
The plane lost contact with the control tower minutes after takeoff, according to local media. Peru's civil aviation authority will investigate the cause of the crash. The Nazca Lines, inscribed on UNESCO's heritage list since 1994, are massive ancient geoglyphs etched into the desert plain and are among Peru's most visited tourist attractions.