Madagascar plane fall: Alana Cutland parents in fundraising bid

Alana Cutland had been studying natural sciences at Robinson College in Cambridge

The parents of a Cambridge University student who died after falling from a light aircraft in Madagascar are raising funds to help a village school and set up a bursary in her memory.

Alana Cutland, 19, from Milton Keynes, fell from the plane on 25 July and her body was found on 6 August.

The funds will go to a school in a Madagascan village where residents helped search for her.

A bursary at Robinson College, where she was a student, will also be set up.

Ms Cutland was on an internship on the African island at the time she died.

Police previously said Ms Cutland fell to her death after opening a plane door, but the reason she did this remains unclear.

Ms Cutland was on an internship in Madagascar when she died

Ms Cutland's parents, Neil and Alison, are now raising funds for two causes "in memory of our beloved Alana".

They said on the fundraising page: "We want to directly help the villagers of Anjajavy and the surrounding area.

"This is an extremely poor region, and for the villagers to leave their farms and spend 10 days searching for Alana was extraordinarily generous."

They are hoping to be able to pay for a new classroom at the local school which would mean children do not need to have lessons outside.

In addition, a bursary will be established "at Alana's university home, Robinson College Cambridge - this will be specifically for the benefit of female students, something that we know Alana would have thoroughly approved of", they wrote on the fundraising page.

So far almost £15,000 has been pledged.

In a message posted on the page by the family on Monday, Mr Cutland said they were "simply overwhelmed".