Small plane crashes at London Southend Airport
London, Jul 13 (AP): Emergency services raced Sunday to the scene of a small plane crash at London Southend Airport.
In a statement on social media, the airport confirmed a “serious incident” involving what it termed a general aviation aircraft.
Essex Police said it had been alerted just before 4 pm local time to the “serious incident" at the relatively small airport, which is around 45 miles (72 kilometres) east of the capital.
Images posted on social media show a plume of fire and black smoke emanating from the crash site. The plane involved is said to be 12 metres (39 feet) long.
No details on where the plane was heading or how many people were on board were immediately disclosed.
“We are working with all emergency services at the scene now and that work will be ongoing for several hours," Essex Police said.
As a precaution due to their proximity to the incident, police evacuated a local golf club and rugby club.
The local member of parliament, David Burton-Sampson, urged people to stay away and let the emergency services do their work.
“My thoughts are with everyone involved," he said.
According to the airport's website, four flights scheduled to take off on Sunday afternoon were cancelled.
🚨🇬🇧 BREAKING: PLANE CRASH AT LONDON SOUTHEND AIRPORT
— Sarcasm (@sarcastic_us) July 13, 2025
A Beechcraft Super King Air light aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from London Southend Airport, erupting into a massive fireball visible from the terminal.
Praying for Everyone’s safety🙏
pic.twitter.com/u9PZBfsiKc
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
