Two people were killed when a small aircraft registered in Germany crashed near Croatia’sĀ coastal city of Zadar, local media reported on Saturday.
Croatian police said the two-seater motor glider, which can fly with a small engineĀ or glideĀ without one, went down in the Velebit mountains on Friday.
The long, rugged mountain rangeĀ runs parallel to the Adriatic coast.
Authorities said theĀ Diamond HK36 Super Dimona was en route from the Czech Republic to Zadar when it crashed.
According to media reports, contact with the aircraft was lost just after 4 p.m. local time (1400 GMT/UTC).Ā
What do we know about the plane crash in Croatia?
Police said the wreckage, along with the bodies of two passengers, wasĀ found after a lengthy search.
Challenging terrain, along with heavy rain, wind and fog, meant it took nearly sixĀ hours to reach the location.
Croatian media outlet Jutarnji list cited theĀ mountain rescue agency as describing the conditions as “extremely difficult.”
The fog, which reduced visibility to around 2 meters,Ā also prevented the deployment of search drones, Jutarnji list reported.
The agency sent a 35-person rescue team to the crash site, local media said.
Officials have not announced the victims’ identitiesĀ or nationalities
German news agency DPA cited the Czech Foreign Ministry as saying the victims were not Czech citizens.
Edited by: Karl Sexton
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