A small plane crashed Thursday near an airfield on Croatia’s northern Adriatic coast killing four people, all Austrian nationals, officials said.
Croatian authorities confirmed the nationality of two of the victims, while Austrian news agency APA cited Vienna’s foreign ministry as saying all four were Austrian nationals.
The small German-registered aircraft was flying from Linz, Austria, to Medulin, on Croatia’s Istria peninsula, the area where it crashed on Thursday morning, head of the national air, maritime and railway traffic accidents investigation agency (AIN), Alana Vukic, told reporters.
The bodies of the four victims, all men, were removed from the wreckage, the state-run HINA news agency quoted Vukic as saying.
The national firefighting association said earlier in a social media post that the crash happened near Medulin sports airfield and firefighters and emergency medical teams were at the scene.
A German flag could be seen on the tail of the plane wreckage in a photograph taken by AFP.
The AIN is in contact with the Austrian embassy and will issue a preliminary report within 30 days, Vukic said.
“We will cooperate with the Austrian authorities.”
Investigators are on the ground, and small aircraft do not have a black box, she said, adding that an investigation into the cause and circumstances of the accident would last several months.
