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Burnt cars in front of the circus tent: the police at the cordoned-off crash site of the small plane
Photo: Friedemann Vogel/EPA
Two people died when a small-engine plane crashed in the parking lot of a circus in Duisburg on Sunday.
The machine caught fire after the impact on the square – an old freight station not far from the A59 – the police and fire brigade reported.
The crash happened during a running show with around 900 visitors, as a fire department spokesman told a dpa reporter at the scene of the accident.
The tent entrance was only about 50 meters from the crash site.
Music in the tent so loud that the crash could not be heard
According to the fire brigade, the music in the tent was so loud that the crash of the small machine could hardly or not be heard.
According to WDR, it was an ultralight aircraft.
It is not yet possible to say who was killed on the plane.
A police spokeswoman said in the early evening that two bodies had been recovered.
According to preliminary findings, it is not assumed that other people were injured - there were no reports of injuries.
Scrambled past an accident of catastrophic proportions
On site, the phrase "luck in misfortune" was often heard among the emergency services.
The police also said it was possible that one had narrowly missed an accident of catastrophic proportions.
The head of operations of the fire brigade informed about the accident after the event in the circus tent.
The police then escorted the spectators out of the tent in order to avoid panic and chaos.
About ten cars caught fire
However, initially only around 100 spectators were allowed to leave the tent in the late afternoon.
Many had to be patient - their personal details and the license plates of their vehicles were recorded before they were allowed to drive off the premises.
About ten cars caught fire.
The plane wreckage was screened off with privacy screens.
Experts from the air traffic control authority from the Düsseldorf district government examined the scene of the accident.
The area was cordoned off over a large area – also to keep onlookers away.
The investigators said on Sunday evening that no information could be given about the exact course of the accident and the cause.
Initially, after the incident in the afternoon, the operation focused on extinguishing the fire.
A cloud of black smoke rose above the scene of the accident.
A helicopter circled.
Around 60 emergency services were on site.
ktz/dpa