At least eleven people died today after a plane carrying would-be skydivers hoping to take part in their first jump crashed in eastern France.

The tragedy unfolded soon after 11am on Sunday when the German-registered Pilatus PC-6 got into difficulty.

'The single-engine plane was carrying around eleven people when it came down near Nancy,' said an investigating source.

'It had been hired by a company that organises introductory parachute jumps.

'Those onboard included a pilot, five instructors, and five others who were due to take part in tandem jumps for the first time.'

There was no immediate indication as to the names or nationalities of those on board.

But local media reported that five of the victims of the terrible crash were self-employed nurses from the local area who were going skydiving for the first time. 

The plane came down on a road next to an Auchan supermarket in Tomblaine, a suburb of Nancy.

It had taken off a few minutes before from the Nancy-Essey airfield, and began to fall out of the sky during takeoff.

A spokesman for the Meurth-et-Moselle Prefecture said: 'The incident occurred in the municipality of Tomblaine involving a civil aircraft that took off from Nancy-Essey aerodrome.'

The area around the crash site was immediately blocked off, as emergency services personnel searched for survivors.

Amaury Lacote, a local prosecutor, announced that a formal investigation will be launched in conjunction with the air transport gendarmerie brigade of Nancy-Metz. 

Following the crash, the area around Tomblaine suffered a power outage. It is not known if this is connected to the crash. 

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez is expected to arrive on site this afternoon.  

More to follow.