Plane crashes on A40 dual carriageway after hitting overhead power cables - the third air crash in the area in last three years
- The A40 between Abergavenny and Raglan is closed following the incident
- Police have told people to avoid the area and are turning traffic away
- Witnesses reported hearing a loud explosion and seeing smoke around 11 am
A light aircraft has crashed onto a dual carriageway in south Wales, sending smoke billowing into the air after hitting power cables.
Pictures show lines of traffic halted on the road as stunned spectators are dwarfed by the huge, dark plumes.
The A40 between Abergavenny - a market town and community in Monmouthshire - and Raglan is closed following the incident, and police have told people to avoid the area.
It is the third incident of this nature to happen in the area in the last three years with two people - Martin Bishop, 61, and 68-year-old Roderick Weaver, of Cardiff - dying in a light aircraft crash on the outskirts of nearby Raglan in June last year.
In June 2016 there was another light aircraft crash, but all three people escaped without injury.
Police said that three people were treated at the scene in for non-life threatening injuries today, after a witness reported seeing a man helping pull them out of the wreckage.
Pictures show lines of traffic halted on the road as stunned spectators are dwarfed by the huge, dark plumes
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Witnesses reported hearing a loud explosion and seeing thick smoke in the area at around 11 am, then police were called and arrived alongside fellow emergency services and Western Power.
People at the scene reported that the people evacuated were alive and had 'serious burns'.
Louise Hodges wrote on Facebook: 'We were watching a glider flying over, must have been just before this happened.
'The front of the plane looked black and at an odd angle. We wondered if there was something wrong.'
Another woman, Kelly Hale, said on Facebook that she saw a man pulling people out of the wreckage of the aircraft, branding him 'a hero'.
'They're safe and the guy is a hero. But the plane is still burning and the road is closed,' she said.
Another woman wrote that 'everyone survived, but serious burns. Missed every car on the road.'
One person who lives across the valley from the scene tweeted a picture of the smoky skyline and said that there is a private landing strip nearby
One person who lives across the valley from the scene tweeted a picture of the smoky skyline and said that there is a private landing strip nearby.
A BBC journalist reported that he was on a train hit by power cables which were cut loose when the plane crashed into them.
Rhodri Tomos said: 'The guard said that a light aircraft has crashed into some power cables and the cables have hit the train.
'We could smell some burning and we were at a stop for about 15 minutes, but we're moving again now.'
Abergavenny Airfield is situated near the road. Local man Martin Bishop, 61, was one of two people killed there in the last aircraft crash in the area.
He, and fellow victim Roderick Weaver, were avid flyers who 'died doing what they loved', according to tributes.
Trains have also been affected as a result of the crash, with National Rail saying that services between Hereford and Newport will be delayed.
Gwent Police didn't confirm details of the reported crash but tweeted to say there was a 'police incident' on the same road.
