The Foreign Office has been mobilised after eleven British skydivers are feared dead following an aircraft crash in eastern France. The plane, a small passenger aircraft carrying sixteen people, went down this afternoon near the town of Charmes in the Vosges region. Rescuers at the scene have reportedly found no survivors.
Among the dead are believed to be eleven British nationals, along with two French pilots and three other passengers. The Foreign Office has confirmed it is in contact with French authorities and is providing consular support to families. The cause of the crash is not yet known.
Emergency services were scrambled after the plane lost contact with air traffic control. Witnesses described hearing an engine sputter before the aircraft plummeted into a wooded area. The British embassy in Paris has opened a hotline for concerned relatives.
This is a developing story.
