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Photo: Guenter Fischer / CHROMORANGE / IMAGO
The Austrian pilot has died in the crash of an ultralight aircraft in Thailand. His companion from Germany was seriously injured in the accident, as Thai media reported, citing eyewitnesses and rescue workers. The 51-year-old had suffered severe fractures to both ankles, among other things, and was in shock, wrote the newspaper "Pattaya Mail".
The crash occurred on Saturday in a field near the resort town of Pattaya. A 64-year-old cattle herder rushed to the wreckage and pulled the German out of the burning rubble, it said. Other residents also helped with the rescue. Emergency doctors who were called to the scene provided first aid before the man was taken to a hospital.
The 50-year-old pilot probably wanted to make an emergency landing in a field, the newspaper "The Nation" reported. In the process, the small white plane collided with a tamarind tree. Photos circulated on the Internet showed the wreck completely destroyed. The authorities began an investigation into the cause of the accident.
hen/dpa