THREE people are dead following a light aircraft crash on a motorway near Paris this afternoon.

The plane is reported to have come down on the A4 in Nosiel, east of the capital, at around 4pm on Sunday after hitting an electric power cable.

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The motorway has been closed in both directions. No vehicles were struck in the incident, it’s understood.

Pictures from the scene show officials in hi-vis jackets, with the plane straddling the central reservation.

Meaux prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier said the victims were “two men and a woman”, adding the pilot “was born in 1989”. 

Horror footage showed the aircraft lying on its roof, crumpled atop on the motorway barrier.

Nearby, flaming parts of the wreckage can be seen.

Emergency services and members of the public can be seen frantically running by the wreck as traffic is ushered past.

A helicopter can be seen hovering overhead.

The Bureau of Investigation and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) has also opened an “administrative investigation”. 

“A tourist plane from Lognes-Emerainville (aéroflight flying club) has crashed for the second time in a year on the A4 near Collégien,” the Association of residents of the Lognes aerodrome said in a statement.