Two fighter jets have crashed into one another in Germany, according to the country’s Air Force.
The incident, which is said to have happened at 1pm UK time, involved two Eurofighter warplanes in Fleesensee, near Malchow in northern Germany.
Emergency services rushed to the Laage military base in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern region at around 2pm local time.
EUROFIGHER ZUSAMMENGESTOßEN Nach Ostseewelle-Informationen sind über der Müritzregion zwei Eurofighter zusammengestoßen und abgestürzt. Mehr dazu in unseren Nachrichten. pic.twitter.com/RwqmYjU7yh
— Ostseewelle HITRADIO (@ostseewelle_de) June 24, 2019
Pictures have emerged on social media showing smoke billowing in the sky.
Both pilots involved in the smash are said to have pressed the ejection seat, a spokesperson for Air Force said. Both were missing initially, however one pilot was found at 3.15pm local time, around an hour and 15 minutes after the incident took place.
The injuries caused by the incident are not yet known.
A tweet reportedly from the German Air Force reads: Together with a third Eurofighter they were flying an Air Combat Mission. The pilot of the third Eurofighter observed the collision and reported that two parachutes descended to the ground.
Eurofighters are made by Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.
Eyewitnesses say a wing broke away from the first jet’s main hull, according to local media reports.
#Update: More pictures from the scene at the region of Fleesensee lake near the town of Malchow in #Germany. Reports also says that a Third Eurofighter jet was at the training exercise and saw the 2 pilots eject from their seats. nordkurier pic.twitter.com/sXy7QlYdAN
— Sotiri Dimpinoudis (@sotiridi) June 24, 2019
Police are warning people not to handle the debris caused by the smash, stressing it can be very dangerous. This is in part because the forest has been ravaged by fires recently.
The Fleesensee is a large lake surrounded by countryside in Germany.
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.