Plane crash near Nazca Lines kills 13, including foreign tourists

Police in Peru report that 13 people, among them foreign tourists, have been killed in a plane crash in southern Peru, near the Nazca Lines.

Local authorities in Nazca confirmed that 11 tourists and two pilots died when the Cessna Grand Caravan crashed in Pueblo Viejo, approximately 4 miles (6km) from the city of Nazca and roughly 12km from the Nazca Lines site.

The passengers were identified as seven Italians, two Germans – believed to be a couple – and two Spanish people. The pilot and copilot were named as Americo Salazar Cuellar and Irenka Del Carpio respectively.

The plane had departed the nearby city of Pisco at about 1pm local time (7pm BST) to fly over the Nazca Lines, but minutes later lost contact with the control tower and crashed at 1.20pm, police reported.

The cause of the crash is as yet unknown, and the local authorities have launched an investigation.

“We have information that 11 passengers and two crew members have died,” Police Major Jorge Andrade told reporters at the crash site.

“Given the severity of the accident, there are no survivors. We have recovered four bodies so far,” Andrade added.

The Guardian has seen video footage which showed firefighters and police working amid the smouldering wreckage of the plane in the desert. Images appeared to show bodies on the sand.

This deadly plane crash is far from the first at the Unesco world heritage site, which attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. Several operators compete to offer overflights of the iconic lines which date to AD200-700, amid serious concerns about the safety and maintenance of the aircraft.

In 2022, a small plane crash killed seven people, including two Chileans and three Dutch nationals. In October 2010, four British tourists and two Peruvian crew members were killed when a small plane operated by AirNasca crashed after flying over the lines. Earlier in the same year, three Chileans and four Peruvians died when a Cessna 206 crashed. In April 2008, five French tourists were killed in another crash, but the pilot survived.

“The investigation of the accident and the oversight of aviation operations are the responsibility of the competent authorities, who will determine the causes and assign liability in accordance with the law,” the municipality of Nazca said in a statement on Saturday.

Peru’s tourism ministry expressed “deep sorrow over the tragic deaths of tourists and crew members” in a statement.