A microlight aircraft crashed onto a motorway in Italy, erupting into a ball of flames on impact. Two people were killed and two more injured, with one person rushed to hospital for treatment.
The incident happened on Monday around 12.19pm on the A21 Cordamolle-Ospitale motorway, between Flero and Azzano Mella in the province of Brescia. The crash was captured on video, which was later posted to social media channels. Images show cars and trucks travelling along the motorway, when suddenly the plane nose dives towards the ground, hitting the central reservation.
It bursts into a ball of flames on impact, sending a thick plume of black smoke skywards. The resulting fire engulfed two passing cars, who were forced to drive their vehicles through the flames.
Firefighters worked to put out the flames and secure the area, which was badly damaged by spilled fuel and debris.
The bodies of the plane’s occupants were retrieved from the cockpit of the plane and later identified as 75-year-old lawyer Sergio Ravaglia and 50-year-old Anna Maria De Stefano.
The 56-year-old driver of one of the cars caught up in the crash was taken to Poliambulanza in Brescia for a medical checkup. The second driver – a 49-year-old man – was treated on site by medics and required no further treatment.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the causes of the crash and have gathered testimony from eye-witnesses.
Investigators are also combing through video footage as they attempt to reconstruct the sequence of events.
The A21 Cordamolle-Ospitale motorway is roughly 30 kilometres long and connects the Ospitaletto toll plaza on the A4 MI-BS highway with the Brescia-Montichiari airport.