Three people died on Saturday when an ultralight aircraft crashed into a residential building in north-western Germany, a spokesman for the police said.

The plane crashed into the roof of the building that contains five flats in the town of Wesel, in the Lower Rhine region.

The top floor flat of the house caught fire and, according to the fire brigade, was completely destroyed.

A woman lived in the flat with her 2-year-old child, according to the deputy head of the Wesel fire brigade, Robert Meyboom. The child was rescued only slightly injured. The police suspect that the mother is among the dead.

Police initially found no further injured parties among those who lived in the building, they said in a statement.

The other two victims are believed to be the two occupants of the aircraft, Meyboom said.

The chairman of the Friends of Air Sports Wesel-Rheinhausen association, Achim Strobel, assumed that the plane had just taken off from Wesel Airfield. There were two men on board, he told dpa. The aircraft is the TL 96 model, which is considered a so-called air sports device.

Rescue workers found a parachute near the crash site, which police assume is the aircraft's emergency parachute.

The reason of the crash was still unknown. According to the police, there were indications that the aircraft had broken up before the crash as several aircraft parts were found in the area.

The crash prompted a large deployment of rescue workers. Several helicopters and a rescue dog team were also involved. Emergency counsellors were also on site.


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