Nine killed in plane crash

Nine people died after a light aircraft belonging to a skydiving company crashed on New Zealand's South Island today.

The plane burst into flames after take-off from an airstrip at Fox Glacier, said Ian Henderson, a spokesman for local ambulance services.

The pilot and eight passengers were killed, Greymouth Police Senior Sgt Allyson Ealam said.

Mr Henderson did not immediately know the ages, gender or nationalities of the dead.

Police said the aircraft was a Fletcher fixed-wing plane of a type designed and built in New Zealand.

Fox Glacier is on the western coast of the South Island, about 90 miles from the main city, Christchurch.

Foreign tourists and New Zealanders were among the dead, but their ages, sex and nationality could not immediately be released, police said. Next of kin were being contacted.