11 killed in plane crash in Poland

Eleven people died in a plane crash Saturday afternoon in Topolow, near Czestochowa, in southern Poland, authorities said.

Only one person survived the crash of the private airplane belonging to a parachuting school close to Czestochowa, some 207 km southwest of Warsaw, Xinhua reported citing a fire services official.

Eleven parachutists and a pilot were on board, according to media reports. After the crash the aircraft burst into flames. Sixteen fire brigade units rushed to the scene and the fire was put out quickly.

An eyewitness said that he saw a diving airplane and thought it might hit his house.

He rushed to the scene of the accident and started to help people out of the wreck, saving one person, the others were burnt in front of his eyes, he said.

The survivor was transported by helicopter to hospital in Czestochowa and is in a serious but stable state.

Wlodzimierz Skalik, the president of the Czestochowa Aeroclub and the Polish Aeroclub, said the airplane was a twin-engined Piper PA-31 Navajo.

The cause of the crash is unknown.