9 skydivers dead after plane crashes on Swedish island

July 15 (UPI) -- Swedish authorities are trying to determine the cause of a plane crash over the weekend that killed nine skydivers.

Officials said the small plane left Umea Airport Sunday afternoon and signaled trouble 45 minutes later. A short time later the plane crashed on Storsandskar Island in the delta of the Umea River.

Authorities did not immediately identify the dead, but said they were skydivers who'd been preparing to make a jump.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven met news of the crash "with great grief."

"I think of the dead and their relatives in this difficult time," he said.

Parliamentary leader Talman Andreas Norlen said the crash has hit the Scandinavian nation hard.

"Every person has an infinite value," he said. "When nine people are pulled away at the same time, a large tear occurs in our social fabric.

"Let us give a thought to those who died in the air accident at Umea, but also to their closest and all others whose lives will never really be the same again."