A tourist aircraft crashed near Peru's UNESCO-listed Nazca Lines on Saturday (1 August), killing all 13 people on board, authorities said.
The aircraft went down in the Pueblo Viejo area shortly after departing María Reiche Airport for a sightseeing flight over the ancient geoglyphs. The victims included 11 passengers from Germany, Italy and Spain and two crew members.
Peruvian National Police Major Jorge Andrade confirmed the details.
"Eleven passengers and two crew members, which would be the pilot and the guide or co-pilot, but it is a tourism service aircraft," Andrade told reporters.
Asked whether there were any survivors, he replied, "Given the magnitude, no, there are none."
The Ministry said the plane crashed in the area of Socos, approximately 6 km (4 miles) from the city of Nazca and roughly 19 km (12 miles) from the Nazca Lines site.
Firefighters were seen battling smoke rising from the wreckage as emergency crews secured the crash site.
The cause of the crash has not yet been determined, and authorities have not released the identities of the victims.
William Acosta, an inspector with Peru's Civil Aviation Directorate General, said Italian tourists were believed to be among those killed, although he could not confirm the nationalities of all passengers.
The crash occurred just one day after sightseeing flights over the Nazca Lines resumed following a temporary suspension caused by strong winds, according to Peru's state news agency Andina.
The Nazca Lines, enormous geoglyphs etched into the desert in southern Peru, are one of the country's best-known tourist attractions and have been recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. They are typically viewed from small sightseeing aircraft departing from nearby airfields.
The aircraft involved in Saturday's crash belonged to local operator Aerodiana, according to municipal authorities, who expressed their condolences to the victims' families.
The accident is the latest in a series of fatal crashes involving sightseeing flights over the Nazca Lines.
In 2022, seven people were killed when another tourist aircraft crashed near the site, while a similar accident in 2010 claimed six lives.
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