Plane carrying tourists crashes in Peru, killing 13 on a Nazca Lines sightseeing flight

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A plane carrying tourists crashed into a field in Peru on Saturday outside the city of Nazca killing 13 people, local authorities said.

In a statement on Facebook, Nazca’s municipal government said the plane was taking tourists on a sightseeing flight of the Nazca Lines, a group of extensive geoglyphs scraped into the desert around Nazca hundreds of years ago by Peru’s Indigenous inhabitants. The lines form images of animals that can only be fully appreciated from planes or viewing towers.

Nazca’s government said the plane departed from the nearby city of Ica and was operated by Peruvian company Aerodiana. On its website the airline says that it has offered scenic flights over the Nazca lines for the past 14 years, using Cessna Grand Caravan planes.

In a statement, Peru’s Ministry for Trade and Tourism said that 11 “foreign tourists” and two crew members were on the plane that crashed Saturday. State news agency Agencia Andina reported that two German, two Spanish and seven Italian tourists were on the plane.

Peruvian authorities said the accident is under investigation. Aerodiana was not immediately available for comment.