Move FM Global News

GENEVA, Switzerland – On Saturday evening, a Ju-52 aircraft from 1939 crashed in the Swiss Alps, with up to 20 people feared dead.

As rescue operations continued on Sunday, Swiss authorities said operations were focussed in the Alpine canton of Graubünden after the vintage Junker Ju-52 aircraft crashed in the mountains.

Officials said that the 79-year-old plane, operated by the company JU-AIR for sightseeing flights, can carry up to 17 passengers and three crew members.

They added that five helicopters had been deployed in the rescue operation.

Late on Saturday, police confirmed the crash of the aircraft on Twitter and said that it occurred on the western side of the mountain Piz Segna at about 2,540 meters (8,333 feet) above sea level. 

So far, authorities have not specified the cause of the crash.

According to a report in the local newspaper Blick, all passengers on board the plane had been killed.

However, police have so far not commented on the exact number of casualties. 

According to the report, the company JU-AIR has three of the vintage planes, that are known as “Auntie Ju” planes in German.

In another tragedy on Saturday, a small plane carrying a family of four, crashed near Lucerne.

The plane, which also had two young children, crashed near the town of Hergiswil, some 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) south of Lucerne in central Switzerland.

The police have confirmed that all on board the plane, that had been flying to France, were killed in the crash.