The heartbroken sister of a Streatham man killed in a plane crash in Peru on Saturday, has paid tribute to her “wonderful” brother as she offered words of comfort to his friends, who had a narrow escape.

City worker Alastair Rowe, 34, died just two days into his dream trip to Peru, when the tiny aircraft he was in crashed near one of Peru’s most famous tourist attractions.

He was killed, along with Warren Denham – one of his closest friends – the pilot and three other British tourists when the aircraft crashed close to the ancient Nazca Lines ground markings, after a suspected mechanical failure.

Mr Rowe and Mr Denham were on an 18-day holiday with three friends when the aircraft crashed.

The pair took a separate flight over the pre-Inca World Heritage Site – which show hundreds of individual figures carved into the Nazca Desert between 400 and 650AD – after delays meant they became separated from the others in their group.

Mr Rowe’s sister Samantha Osborn told the Streatham Guardian: “He absolutely loved travel, it was what he lived for.”

The 38-year-old, from Surrey, said she had spoken to him the day before he left.

She said: “It was lovely to hear how excited and happy he was. He had taken the trip to get over the recent death of our father, which had hit him very badly.”

She said she knew how popular he was after she had been flooded with messages of sympathy from 150 friends on Facebook.

Mrs Osborn said she had spoken to his three other travelling companions, who were absolutely devastated.

She said: “They are absolutely distraught. I feel for them because they are asking themselves lots of questions. I don’t want them to ever feel it should have been them.”

Mr Rowe, a talented photographer, lived in a flat in Woodleigh Gardens, Streatham, with three friends.

He worked as a manager at property company Square Mile, but Mrs Osborn said: “He worked to live and to pay for his trips, he was wasn’t interested in getting a mortgage. He wanted to have a good time and travel.”

Mr Rowe grew up in Kingston before his education at prestigious boarding school Millfield and going to Thames Valley university.

His sister said she wanted his funeral to take place in Streatham, after his body is flown home.

The Peruvian authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash.

Flames were reported coming from the back of the plane before it plummeted to the ground.

Did you know Alastair? Leave your comments using the form below...