Multiple dead after plane crashes in British holiday hotspot as police rush to identify victims

All three people on board were killed in the crash, police confirmed.

Officers said work was ongoing to formally identify the victims.

Emergency services were rushed to the scene, with three helicopters and two rescue specialists deployed to the site.

The aircraft had departed from Lugano in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino before making a stop in the Valais city of Sion.

It had been heading toward the Buochs aerodrome in the central canton of Nidwalden at the time of the crash.

The emergency services were alerted after locals spotted smoke rising from wreckage.

Swiss federal authorities have since opened an investigation into the cause of the accident.

A separate criminal investigation is being led by the Office of the Attorney General of the Confederation, working alongside Valais cantonal police.

Police shared an image of the crash site showing the aircraft's wreckage scattered across the mountainside.

A police statement said: "Shortly after 4pm., for reasons yet to be determined, the aircraft collided with the northern slope of a mountain in the Fluhalp area of Leukerbad."

The statement added signs of smoke were reported in the area shortly afterwards.

Around 800,000 Britons visit Switzerland each year.

This comes just days after several people died when a coach carrying tourists overturned on a mountain road elsewhere in Switzerland.

The coach, carrying 48 passengers, flipped over in the eastern Swiss canton of Graubünden, the country's largest holiday region, at around 8pm last Thursday.

A police spokesman said the vehicle struck a safety barrier before overturning and falling down an embankment.

Emergency crews swarmed the scene, working around the coach as it lay on its side beside the carriageway, with helicopters seen landing nearby.

The Dutch Federation of Travel Agencies confirmed the coach belonged to Oad, a Dutch tour operator running holiday trips across Europe.

It said all 48 passengers on board were from the Netherlands.

Local authorities confirmed there had been fatalities, though the exact number of victims and their nationalities have not yet been released.

Cantonal police said on X: "Several people died in the coach crash in Susch. Several others were also injured."

No further details were given regarding the circumstances of the crash or the identities of those involved.

A police spokesman said the force did not intend to release a more detailed casualty toll until victims' families had been formally informed.