A civilian aircraft carrying skydivers crashed near the eastern French town of Tomblaine on Sunday, killing all 11 people on board, authorities said.
The aircraft went down in a grassy area near the runway of Nancy-Essey Aerodrome, close to residential neighborhoods, shortly after takeoff.
Officials said the victims included five flight instructors, five student skydivers and the pilot.
"There were no bystanders among the victims," Meurthe-et-Moselle Prefect Yves Seguy told reporters.
Emergency crews secured the crash site while medical and psychological support teams assisted relatives and witnesses at the airfield.
Authorities said the German-registered aircraft's cause of the crash remains unknown. Prosecutors have opened a technical investigation to determine what led to the accident.
Police urged the public to avoid the area to allow emergency responders unrestricted access, while French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez was expected to visit the crash site later Sunday.
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