At least three Britons have died in Peru after their light aircraft crashed near one of the country's most famous tourist attractions.
They were on a Cessna plane with one other passenger and two crew that came down in a field near the centuries-old Nazca Lines markings.
Local police said four Britons - three men and a woman - were killed, but the UK Foreign Office said Peruvian authorities had so far confirmed three Britons were on the plane, with the identity of a fourth passenger still to be determined.
The plane is thought to have suffered engine trouble and crashed after taking off from the local Maria Reiche airport at about 11.15pm British time on Saturday.
Local police said the aircraft hit the field as the pilot and co-pilot - said to be Peruvian - tried to make an emergency landing.
The Nazca Lines, mysterious geoglyphs etched into the desert centuries ago by indigenous groups, are a Unesco World Heritage Site and one of Peru's main tourist destinations. About 240 miles south east of the capital Lima, the glyphs are only fully recognisable from the air and 30-minute overflights are popular with travellers.
A Foreign Office spokesman said the British Ambassador to Peru and another member of the consular staff were on their way to the scene of the crash from Lima.
"The Peruvian authorities have notified us that three British nationals died in the plane crash in Nazca," he said.
"A fourth passenger died in the incident, along with two crew members. Police are attempting to identify the nationality and identity of the fourth passenger."
Several dozen planes in Nazca offer flights over the Lines, but there have been allegations of poor supervision of the aircraft. In February, a Cessna 206 carrying three Chileans and four Peruvians over the lines crashed and killed everyone on board. Another crash in April 2008 killed five French tourists, though their pilot survived.



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