Three killed as light aircraft hits onlookers in Germany

Berlin: Three people were killed and several injured when a light aircraft crashed into a group of onlookers in Germany on Sunday, said media reports citing police.

The Cessna hit two adults and a child at an airfield on the approximately 950-metre high Wasserkuppe plateau in the central state of Hesse, reported national news agency DPA.

The accident happened at around 1345 GMT, in clear weather conditions, when the pilot aborted a landing manoeuvre and sought to gain elevation again.

Bild daily reported that another eight people had been injured, quoting local police.

Police said the victims, two women and a child, aged either nine or 10, were on a path next to an airfield at the Wasserkuppe when the crash occurred.

Five other people — the four on board the plane and an eyewitness — were suffering from shock.

The plane reportedly came from the Mannheim area of south-west Germany and had been on an excursion to the Wasserkuppe.