Five killed after plane crashes close to Lidl in Portugal

A small plane crashed beside a Lidl supermarket near Lisbon, killing four people on board and one on the ground.

The plane crashed next to a Lidl store near Lisbon. Picture: Fabio Miguel/PA Wire

Four people were slightly injured, emergency services said.

The dead included the Swiss pilot, three French passengers on the plane and a Portuguese truck driver, emergency services operational commander Miguel Cruz said.

The Swiss-registered plane crashed shortly after a noon takeoff from the small Tires airfield, 12 miles west of the Portuguese capital, Cruz said.

Officials said that the crash happened amid clear skies and a light wind.

The Tires airfield said the plane was a twin-engine Piper PA-31 Navajo aircraft. The airfield was closed as authorities opened an investigation.

The truck driver was offloading his cargo at the supermarket’s rear cargo bay, just over 1 mile from the runway, when the plane crashed near him.

His truck was set ablaze.

Authorities declined to identify those killed in the plane until their identities could be compared with the flight manifesto.

The injured were shopping inside the supermarket, which is located in a residential neighbourhood, and were treated for shock and smoke inhalation.

The crash also occurred close to a primary school.

About three dozen firefighting vehicles rushed to the scene, arriving within six minutes, according to officials.

Nearby houses were blackened by smoke, with nine people forced to move out of their homes.