MADRID: A mid-air collision between a sightseeing helicopter and a small plane on the Spanish island of Mallorca killed seven people on Sunday, authorities said.

The victims included three adults and two children on the helicopter and two local men on the light plane, the regional government of Spain’s Balearic islands, which include Mallorca, said in a tweet.

Local media reported the helicopter was on a sightseeing tour. One of the helicopter victims was Italian, private Spanish news agency Europa Press said.

Part of the wreckage from the aircraft landed near houses in a rural area.

Authorities have opened an investigation into what happened.

Spain’s caretaker prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, sent his condolences on Twitter to the victims’ families and expressed sadness at the “tragic accident.” No further details were immediately available.Five people were on board the helicopter, two of them minors, and they were all likely Germans, the Balearic Islands government said on Twitter. Two adult Spaniards were in the small plane. All the people on board the two aircraft were killed.

The cause of the accident was not yet known. Emergency services were notified of the crash at 1:35pm time in the municipality of Inca.

“My solidarity and love for the families of the victims that lost their lives in this tragic accident,” Spanish acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tweeted.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2019