A light plane has killed two sunbathers after making an emergency landing on a beach near Lisbon.

Portuguese officials say the victims were a 56-year-old man and an eight-year-old girl - and no one else is believed to have been injured.

The two occupants of the plane escaped unhurt and were led away by police.

The plane made an emergency landing at Caparica, about 20 miles south of Lisbon, after getting into difficulties.

Caparica beach was packed with sunbathers when the plane came down in sunny weather, at what is the height of the summer season.


Image: The plane crashed at Caparica, about 20 miles south of Lisbon

Ricardo Conceicao, a journalist at the scene, told Sky News that local people were very angry with the pilot of the plane for attempting an emergency landing on the beach.

"We don't know what happened, it is not clear yet," he explained. "We are used to seeing small planes cruising along the shore, along the beach near Lisbon."

He stressed that the incident had been caused by an emergency landing and was not terrorism related.

Photographs of the aircraft appeared to show it with a broken left wing.

Image: Photographs shared on social media show the plane in the sea. Pic: @omalestafeito

Firefighters and emergency services arrived at the beach shortly after the incident and cordoned off the area.

Witnesses said the plane wobbled and skimmed the beach before landing, causing holidaymakers to panic.

According to reports, some sunbathers ran into the sea.