Plane crashes into apartments in Canada

MONTREAL, Saturday (AFP) - One person died and two were injured yesterday when a light aircraft smashed into a ninth-floor suburban apartment in this western Canadian metropolis, police said.“There was one fatality believed to be the pilot and sole occupant of the aircraft,” said a police statement.

The Piper Seneca, a twin-engine, six-seater aircraft, crashed into the densely populated residential neighborhood of Richmond just after lifting off from Vancouver International Airport Friday afternoon. It was bound for the nearby suburb of Pitt Meadows, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast, Kate Donegani of the Vancouver Airport Authority told AFP.

Scores of residents of nearby apartments were evacuated as fire officials cleaned up aviation fuel. No flames or smoke were visible after the aircraft smashed through the outside wall and was engulfed entirely by the building.