/ 25 September 2001

SEVEN DIE AS SMALL PLANE CRASHES IN MADAGASCAR

SEVEN people, including tourists from the French island of Reunion, were killed on Monday when the light aircraft they were flying in crashed near the airport of Madagascar’s capital, pilots said. The Navajo PA 31 plane was approaching Antananarivo when the pilot reported problems first in one engine, then in the second, and subsequently crashed some 20 kilometres from the city, the sources said. The wreckage was spotted by the crew of a helicopter who said they thought nobody had survived. All the passengers had travelled from the Indian Ocean island of Reunion to spend the weekend in Madagascar. Pilots said a fuel problem caused the crash. – AFP