Three dead in private plane crash

A private plane has caught fire and crashed on landing at Le Castellet airport in southern France, killing the three people on board.

Paul Mourier, prefect of the Var region, said two men, aged 60 and 24, and a 30-year-old woman, all from the United States, died in the crash of the Gulfstream F4 from Nice. The victims, all burned, weren't identified.

Some 60 firefighters doused the flaming aircraft, which lost a wing on its landing approach. Five divers searched a nearby swamp to ensure there were no other victims.

An investigation into the cause of the crash on a windless day has been opened.