Three killed as small airplane crashes into Tokyo suburb: NHK

Several other houses nearby also appear to be badly damaged

TOKYO: Three people were killed when a small airplane crashed into a residential area of the Japanese capital, Tokyo, on Sunday, public broadcaster NHK reported, setting fire to houses and cars.

Television footage showed the plane crashed upside down in the wreckage of a burnt-out house as fire-fighters and rescue officials scoured the smoking ruins. Several other houses nearby also appeared to be badly damaged.

The tail section of a crashed light plane and burning house are seen after the plane went down in a residential area and burst into flames, in Chofu, outskirt of Tokyo, July 26, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS

NHK said two men inside the small plane, which was carrying five people, were killed. A woman who was inside one of the houses was also killed and five people were injured, it said.

An aerial view shows debris of a crashed light plane (bottom C) and burning houses are seen after the plane went down in a residential area and burst into flames, in Chofu, outskirt of Tokyo, in this photo taken by Kyodo July 26, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS

"I heard a tremendous sound like a truck crashed into a house... When I looked outside from a window, fire was flaring up," an unidentified woman told NHK.

The tail section of a crashed light plane (R) and burning house are seen after the plane went down in a residential area and burst into flames, in Chofu, outskirt of Tokyo, in this photo taken by Kyodo July 26, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS

"The fire was blazing up so hard," she said.

The Tokyo Fire Department said three people were "in cardiopulmonary arrest", a description usually used by officials in Japan until deaths are confirmed by a medical examiner.

The tail section of a crashed light plane (bottom R) and burning house are seen after the plane went down in a residential area and burst into flames, in Chofu, outskirt of Tokyo, July 26, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS

The fire department also said five houses and at least two cars had been set ablaze.