A father and his twin teenage daughters died today when their light aircraft crashed in central France in as yet unexplained circumstances, the rescue services said. "The accident occurred at 12:30 pm (4 pm IST). The plane crashed and broke up without catching fire," the rescue services said, confirming a report in the local La Montagne newspaper.

The circumstances of the accident, which involved a single-engine two-seater aircraft, were not yet clear. "The weather conditions were actually quite good at the time of the accident," the rescue services said. The crash occurred in a mountainous area in the Mazoires commune of the Puy-de-Dome department.