Light Aircraft Crash Lands on Portuguese Beach, Killing Two Sunbathers

An ambulance drives past the main entrance of the Vila France de Xira hospital, where peop
AP IMAGES

LISBON, Portugal (AP) – A light plane made an emergency landing on a packed beach near Lisbon on Wednesday, killing a 50-year-old man and an 8-year-old girl who were sunbathing, Portuguese media reported.

Hundreds of sunbathers were on the beach at Caparica, 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Lisbon, and some sunbathers reportedly ran into the sea to avoid the plane. The small aircraft carrying two people appeared to be in difficulty and wobbled as it skimmed low over the sunbathers, scattering them and spreading panic on the beach, witnesses said.

The dead girl was with her parents, who were unhurt, the witnesses told local television channels. The plane passed over the dead man’s legs as he sunbathed on a towel, they said. No others were reportedly hurt.

Emergency services could not immediately be reached for comment.

The two occupants of the plane were led away by police.

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