Vintage South African plane crashes near Pretoria

Image source, AFP

One person has been killed and 20 others injured in a plane crash near South Africa's capital, Pretoria.

Local emergency services posted a picture on Twitter showing passengers being helped from the burning wreckage of a plane in a grassy field.

The authorities said they were investigating the cause of the crash.

The Convair plane, built in 1954, was due to be sent to an air museum in The Netherlands. It crashed during "take-off on a test flight", the museum said.

It was "hugely shocked" by Tuesday's crash, the Aviodrome aerospace theme park said in a statement.

The plane crashed near a small airport, Wonderboom, in Pretoria.

Skip Twitter content
Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter and before accepting. To view this content choose 'accept and continue'.

Warning: Third party content may contain adverts

End of Twitter content

A private medical emergency company, ER24, said one passenger died on the scene.

"The remaining patients with their injuries ranging from minor to critical have been treated, provided with advanced-life support intervention and transported by road ambulances, as well as medical helicopters, to nearby hospitals," ER24 spokesman Russel Meiring said.

The aircraft was marked "Martin's Air Charter", which was the previous name of the Dutch cargo airline Martinair. The name was changed in 1966.