A pilot is believed to have crashed a stolen plane into a clubhouse hosting a baby shower in a bid to kill his wife, according to reports.

Dozens of guests were forced to flee the party at a flying club in Botswana on Saturday after Charl Viljoen repeatedly flew past dangerously low in what witnesses described as a “menacing way”.

The aircraft then flew directly into the clubhouse and burst into flames, killing the pilot and destroying the building and 13 parked vehicles.

According to some local media, eyewitnesses said Mr Viljoen, 38, turned up uninvited at the party at the Matsieng aerodrome near Gaborone before the incident and hit his wife during a heated argument.

However South African newspaper The Citizen reports that some witnesses said there was no physical altercation or argument at the event.

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Mr Viljoen is believed to have left and travelled 30 miles south to Sir Seretse Khama Airport where he is understood to have taken a Beechcraft KingAir B200 aircraft without permission.

The Matsieng Flying Club confirmed Mr Viljoen was an “uninvited guest at a private function” held at its clubhouse.

It said in a statement: “It is rumoured that the pilot was involved in a domestic dispute earlier in the afternoon.

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“At approximately 18.15 the aircraft approached Matsieng Aerodrome from the direction of Sir Seretse Khama Airport and made a number of low level fly pasts from different directions past the club facilities next to the air traffic control tower.

“Matsieng Flying Club members sensed that the pilot might have had an ulterior motive at the time and ordered an immediate evacuation of the club premises by the approximately 60 people present.”

The pilot is said to have had one son and to have originally come from Olifantshoek, in Northern Cape, South Africa.

His Facebook page shows he began working as a charter pilot at Kalahari Air Services in October and previously attended Blue Chip Aviation Flight School, in Pretoria, South Africa.