11 die in skydivers' plane crash

Plane wreck near Czestochowa, after crash kills 11: photo - PAP

Emergency services were informed at 16.20 CET that a plane, which had taken off from the Rudniki airfield and was carrying members of a private parachute school, had burst into flames on impacting the ground shortly after take off.

A 40 year-old man - in a "stable" condition a hospital spokesman in Częstochowa said - who is suffering from pelvic injuries, was the only survivor in the disaste, found thrown clear of the aircraft at the site of the crash around three kilometres from the airfield.

Prosecutors in Częstochowa, southern Poland, were at the scene Saturday evening trying to determine the cause of the plane crash, spokesman Tomasz Ozimek told the PAP news agency.

The Piper PA-31 aircraft had been converted to parachute jumping, with seats for 10 people, Polish media report, adding to speculation that the plane was overloaded on take off.

Emergency services say this is the worst civil aviation disaster in Poland in recent history. (pg)