Private plane crashes near Skopje, six dead

Four Italians and two citizens of Kosovo died in the crash of a private small plane near the Macedonian capital Skopje, the France Press agency learned from multiple sources, reports the Patria news agency.

"They took off from Treviso in Italy and their destination was Pristina. They wanted to land in Skopje to refuel," said the Director of the Bureau of Public Security.

He confirmed the nationality of the victims, a police source told AFP. Their identities have not been released, nor has the cause of the accident of the plane that crashed during landing.

The wreckage of the plane is located in a hard-to-reach area, two kilometers from the village of Kojle and about twenty kilometers southeast of Skopje. Residents of the area heard a loud explosion and saw a large fire.

According to data from the meteorological service in Skopje, it was raining at the time of the accident, but there was no strong wind.

Macedonian media report that it was a Piper Seneca type plane, a twin-engine light aircraft registered in Germany, owned by an Italian company based in Treviso, Index reports.