Swiss Alps crash: Baby among three killed as small plane goes down near Italian border

The bodies of the pilot, a passenger and a baby were pulled from the wreckage, regional police confirmed.

It is currently unclear what may have caused the crash above the pass (Polizei Wallis)

A baby was among three people killed when a light aircraft crashed and burst into flames in the Swiss Alps.

The Piper aircraft, which set off from the Vaudois airfield in western Switzerland at around 9am Sunday morning, crashed just over an hour into its flight as it headed towards northern Italy.

The incident took place above the Simplon pass, near the border between the two countries. The bodies of the pilot, a passenger and a baby were pulled from the wreckage.

All three are yet to be identified, police from the Swiss canton of Valais have confirmed.

It is currently unclear what may have caused the crash above the pass, a route through the mountains which connects Switzerland and northern Italy at a height of 6,578ft above sea level.

The crash came shortly after police confirmed a child was among five people to have died in a crash between a light aircraft and a helicopter on the Spanish island of Majorca.

Three people from the helicopter and two people on the plane were killed in the incident, according to local reports.

Francina Armengol, the president of the Balearic Islands, said she is shocked by the incident and her thoughts are with the victims.

Both the helicopter and plane narrowly missed separate houses when they hit the ground, according to the local newspaper Diario de Mallorca.

One eyewitness said the “noise of the impact was horrible”, while another said the collision sounded like thunder or a house collapsing.

Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez released a short statement on the accident on Sunday afternoon.

“My solidarity and affection for the families of the victims who have lost their lives in this tragic accident, including a minor,” he said.