Four confirmed dead in small plane crash at London Southend airport

A fireball was seen following the crash, which happened shortly after take-off at London Southend Airport. Photo / YouTube

Four people were killed when a small plane crashed at a London regional airport at the weekend, UK police have said.

The plane went down around 4pm on Sunday (local time), shortly after departing London Southend airport in southeast England for the Netherlands.

“Sadly, we can now confirm that all four people on board died,” Essex Police chief superintendent Morgan Cronin told reporters.

“We are working to officially confirm their identities. At this stage, we believe all four are foreign nationals,” he added.

Cronin said the force was interviewing dozens of witnesses, and detectives and forensic teams were working to “build an accurate picture of what happened”.

He added that the airport “will remain closed until further notice”.

Video footage had shown a 12m plane in flames with a plume of black smoke at Southend-on-Sea.

Police evacuated a nearby golf club and rugby club as a precaution.

According to the BBC, the plane was a Beechcraft B200.

Southend-on-Sea is about 65km east of the capital, and its airport is the sixth largest in the London area.

- Agence France-Presse