HELSINKI—Swedish officials said a small plane carrying parachutists crashed in northern Sweden soon after takeoff on Sunday and all nine people on board were killed.
The accident took place a little after 2 p.m. local time on Storsandskar island. Swedish media quoted witnesses reporting that some of the parachutists were seen trying to jump off the plane just before the crash.
Swedish airport authority Swedavia said the crashed aircraft was a GippsAero GA8 Airvan, an Australian-made single-engine plane popular with parachutists, that took off from Umea Airport. The cause of the crash is not yet known.
The police said that all the victims were Swedish, with one person holding dual citizenship. The names of the victims were not been disclosed.
A least nine people have died in a skydiving plane crash in Sweden pic.twitter.com/ft23L5zR3a
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) July 14, 2019
“I can confirm that all those aboard the plane have died,” Region Vasterbotten municipality spokeswoman Gabriella Bandling said.
One witness told Swedish broadcaster SVT she heard a loud noise from above before she saw the plane going straight down and crashing into the island.
King Carl XVI Gustaf expressed his sorrow in a statement.
“In view of today’s tragic air crash outside Umea, which took nine people’s lives, I want to convey my condolences. My family and I send our thoughts to their families and relatives,” he said on Facebook.
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven expressed “great sadness” over the accident in a statement to Swedish news agency TT.
He sent condolences to the families of the victims and said the government would stay in close touch with officials probing the crash “as it is important to investigate the cause.”
Reuters contributed to this article.
