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An eight - year - old girl and a man were killed while sunbathing when a small plane plummeted on to a crowded beach in Portugal on Wednesday , apparently due to engine failure.

The plane made little noise as it skimmed low over hundreds of people on Sao Joao da Caparica ’ s sands, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Lisbon , witnesses told Portuguese media.

“ It happened very fast , there was no chance to prepare … to run , ” Enrique Coelho , who was playing with his son at the beach and saw the plane crash , told cable news station SIC Noticias.

The victims were hit by the plane , the commander of the port of Lisbon , Jose Isabel, told reporters at the scene.
The girl was with her parents , who were unhurt , witnesses said.

The two occupants of the plane were unhurt and were led away by police for questioning.

The plane , a Cessna CS - AVA , had been rented by the Aviacao Aerocondor flight training school in Cascais , a seaside town near Lisbon , the school said in a statement .
“ The plane was carrying out a training flight with a student and a senior instructor, who had a great deal of experience , ” it said.

The instructor could be heard telling a control tower that the plane had suffered engine failure and was going to make an emergency landing , according to a recording broadcast on Portuguese television.

Beach goers surrounded the plane after it crash landed and confronted its two occupants , the images also showed .
The plane appeared to have a partly broken left wing , which hung lower than the right wing.
AFP

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