Small plane crashes in Croatia mountains with 3 Dutch people on board
Croatian media reported that a small sport plane carrying Dutch nationals crashed on Saturday afternoon. According to Croatian news agency HINA, three Dutch people were on board the aircraft which went down on Mount Kapeli in the Lika-Senj province. The plane was in transit from the Slovenian city of Maribor to Pula, a city in Croatia.
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet been able to verify if Dutch nationals were among the passengers on the small plane that crashed.
➡️Potraga za nestalim zrakoplovom Cirrus 20 je završena
— Ravnateljstvo civilne zaštite MUP-RH (@RavnateljstvoCZ) May 20, 2023
➡️Nakon višesatne potrage na lokaciji Mali Makovnik, u šumskom nepristupačnom terenu, pronađeni su ostaci nestalog zrakoplova Cirrus 20. Policija je osigurala područje te slijedi očevid (1/3) pic.twitter.com/KL5vRDsNcP
According to the Croatian mountain rescue service HGSS, the Cirrus SR20 G2 airplane disappeared from the radar around 12:30 a.m. A team of over 120 people, along with a drone and a helicopter, were deployed to search the forested area for remnants of the plane. The wreckage was finally located a little after 7:15 p.m. on Saturday evening.
No official announcements have been made yet concerning casualties. The search for victims will resume on Sunday morning, as emergency services are able to conduct a more effective search in daylight, as reported by the news agency HINA.
🚨Nakon višesatne potrage na lokaciji Mali Makovnik, tim na šumskom nepristupačnom terenu, pronašao je ostatke nestalog zrakoplova Cirrus 20. pic.twitter.com/2SVzAAlaS7
— Hrvatska GSS (@HrvatskaGSS) May 20, 2023
The cause of the crash remains uncertain. As the news agency noted, dense fog that afternoon could have resulted in challenging visibility conditions.
Reporting by ANP