BERLIN, July 23: A small plane crashed between the German parliament and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s office on Friday, killing the pilot, firefighters announced.

The plane hit the grassy ground between the two structures around 200 metres from Mr Schroeder’s chancellery and 300 metres from the parliament building.

The cause of the crash and the identity of the pilot were not immediately known. Police cordoned off the area.

Witnesses said the single-engine plane flew over the parliament’s futuristic cupola before plunging to the ground and going up in flames.

Berlin’s interior minister Ehrhart Koerting went to the crash site shortly after the incident was known, but ruled out a terrorist act.

“There is no indication at this time that this could be a terrorist act,” he said, adding that the crash could be an accident or a suicide.

A police officer said the plane probably took off from an airfield in Brandenburg state which surrounds Berlin. An investigation will be carried out to determine how the aircraft could get close to sensitive buildings.—AFP