Eleven People Killed In Plane Crash In Northeastern France

11 people died when a small plane crashed in the northeastern French town of Tomblaine on Sunday, narrowly missing nearby homes. Local officials and a witness say the dead included a pilot and 10 parachutists. The aircraft was used by a parachuting school and went down shortly after takeoff, according to officials, who say it was carrying five trainee parachutists and five instructors. French media reported the trainees were a group of nurses. The plane came down in a residential area near a shopping center. The wreckage of the aircraft is strewn across a bike path. A witness who declined to be identified described the moment of the crash and its aftermath. When we saw it climbing, its nose was really pointed upwards and then suddenly, silence. With the windows open, since it's so hot, there was no more noise and all at once it veered off to the right. Because there's an embankment on the other side by the road, we couldn't see what happened. I didn't see the crash, I just heard the sound. We saw right away that it was over, that they had all died instantly. There was no movement and it was clear the impact had been too violent for there to be any survivors. People at the scene tried to douse the flames with fire extinguishers to keep the aircraft from catching fire. France's interior minister visited the site hours after the crash, where he said the plane plummeted shortly after takeoff, crashing about a thousand feet from the end of the runway of Nancy Essay Airport from where it departed. He also said some of the families of those killed were at the airport and witnessed the crash themselves. Media reports said the plane was registered in Germany. Germany's foreign ministry did not immediately comment. It was not immediately clear whether extreme heat played a role. Nancy, the city near Tomblaine, recorded its highest temperature on record a day earlier.