7 killed when plane on Nazca lines tour crashes in Peru

LIMA, PERU — A light plane carrying sightseers for a tour of the Nazca lines in the Peruvian desert crashed Friday, killing all seven people aboard, including three Dutch and two Chilean tourists, authorities said.

Brigadier Juan Tirado, a firefighter with the 82nd Fire Company in Nazca, said the plane went down near an airfield in the cxjmtzywity. The Nazca lines themselves were not damaged.

"There are no survivors," said Tirado.

Aero Santos, the tour company that owns the plane, said the craft carried the five tourists, and a Peruvian pilot and co-pilot.

The Nazca lines are huge etchings depicting imaginary figures, creatures and plants that were scratched on the surface of a coastal desert between 1,500 and 2,000 years ago. They are believed to have had ritual astronomical purposes and are recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.