The seven Italians who died in Peru on Saturday 1 August were taking part in an excursion to admire the Nazca Lines, an archaeological site recognized by UNESCO. It is an area that can only be appreciated from above and is visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. Terrible plane crashes have already occurred in the same area in the past.
The plane crash
We know that Paolo Gianturco, his wife Cristina Maria Bianco, their sons Pietro and Matteo, and friends Elena Sala with her husband Massimo Angelucci and son Lorenzo were part of a larger group. With them there were two German and two Spanish tourists. They were all aboard a Cessna Grand Caravan of the Peruvian company Aerodiana. The vehicle, according to what the Farnesina announced, had left Pisco to fly over the Nazca Lines. It crashed near Maria Reiche Airfield, in the Pueblo Viejo area, and caught fire.
Who are the seven Italians who died in the plane crash in Peru
The Nazca Lines
Recognized as a UNESCO heritage site since 1994, the Nazca Lines are located in the Peruvian coastal plain, about 400 kilometers south of Lima. Estimates of the number of tourists flying over the area range between 80,000 and 100,000 per year. They constitute one of the most important archaeological sites on the American continent.
UNESCO explains that “these lines, engraved on the surface of the ground between 500 BC and 500 AD, represent one of the major enigmas of archeology due to their quantity, nature, extension and continuity. The geoglyphs (signs on the ground) depict living creatures, stylized plants and imaginary beings, as well as geometric figures several kilometers long”.
In 2022, a plane crash caused seven deaths, including two Chileans and three Dutch. In October 2010, four British tourists and two Peruvian crew members lost their lives when an AirNasca plane crashed after flying over the same area.