| Maina |
Posted
on 18-Apr-02 11:57 AM
Thursday, 18 April, 2002, 16:55 GMT 17:55 UK
Plane hits Milan skyscraper
The Pirelli building is the tallest in Milan
A small tourist aircraft has hit a skyscraper in the northern Italian city of Milan.
At least one person has been reported killed and many were injured in the crash.
Eyewitnesses said that they had heard a loud explosion.
The top floors of the 30-storey Pirelli building caught fire, but some reports say the fire has now been extinguished.
The crash occurred at 1730 , when many people working in the building had already left.
The plane is reported to have made a hole in east side of the building on the 25th floor.
The plane, which had flown from the town of Locarno in Switzerland, sent an SOS message mentioning a technical problem before it crashed.
The building, which is the city's tallest, houses the offices of the local Lombardy government, and is next to the city's main railway station.
There were said to be many injured in the crash
Police and ambulances rushed to the scene and helicopters were seen circling over the building.
The city's stock exchange suspended trading after the incident.
The Italian interior minister said it was "probably an accident".
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has set up a crisis centre in Rome to deal with the incident.
|
