Milan April 18
At least three persons died and several dozen were injured today when a light plane crashed into Milan’s tallest skyscraper, a senior local government official said.
“We have news of three dead and dozens and dozens of injured,” said Pier Gianni Prosperini, Deputy Head of Milan’s regional government.
Transport officials said the plane’s pilot reported technical problems shortly before ploughing into the upper floors of the office block, which dominates the skyline of Italy’s financial capital.
“We heard the sound of propellers as if from a small aircraft and then there was a huge bang. Everything was flying through the air — paper, furniture,” said an office worker who declined to give her name.
The Interior Ministry said it was probably an accident, scotching initial fears that the crash was a copycat of September’s hijacked airliner suicide attacks on US cities.
“The first information we have points to an accident,” Interior Minister Claudio Scajola told reporters.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi headed home from Bulgaria to convene Italy’s crisis unit in response, a spokesman said. US officials said President George W. Bush had been informed.
The skyscraper, which dominates the skyline of Italy’s financial capital, was torn open across at least two storeys. Reuters
