Summary

  • Essex Police says it believes the four people killed in a crash at London Southend Airport were foreign nationals

  • Officers and aviation safety authorities are investigating the cause of Sunday's incident, when a plane went down shortly after taking off

  • Southend Airport is closed until further notice and an exclusion zone has been set up around the crash site

  • Witnesses described seeing a huge fireball at about 16:00 BST after the Beech B200 Super King Air crashed

  • The 12-metre long aircraft was being operated by Dutch firm Zeusch Aviation and was due to fly to Lelystad Airport in the Netherlands

Four people on board plane died, police confirm

Live Reporting

By Charlie Jones; Edited by Andrew Woodger

  1. What can we expect to hear this afternoon?

    A press conference is due to be held at 15:00 at the airport. Ch Supt Morgan Cronin from Essex Police and London Southend Airport 's chief executive Jude Winstanley are due to speak.

    It is thought more details will be provided about the crash and who might have been injured.

    We should hear more about the Air Accident Investigation Branch investigation that is taking place.

    We will bring you the latest as soon as it happens.

  2. What do we know so far?

    A ball of flames rises into the air at an airport. A tower made of metal poles, with staircases, is in the foreground with what looks like radar equipment on top of it. There is woodland behind the airfield.UKNIP
    • A plane crashed in what witnesses described as a "fireball" at London Southend Airport on Sunday
    • Essex Police said it was alerted to a 12-metre plane on fire at the site, in the north of Southend-on-Sea, shortly before 16:00 BST
    • Dutch company Zeusch Aviation confirmed that its SUZ1 flight had been "involved in an accident"
    • The plane had flown from the Greek capital Athens to Pula in Croatia on Sunday before heading to Southend, with a planned return to Lelystad Airport in The Netherlands that evening
    • There has been no confirmation on the number of casualties
    • The airport remains closed until further notice

  3. Welcome to our coverage of the Southend Airport crash

    Hello and welcome to our live page, where we will bring you the latest news to emerge about the crash, which happened on Sunday afternoon.

    So far there has been no confirmation on the number of casualties.

    We are expecting Essex Police to hold a press conference later this afternoon, where we should hear more details about the incident and any injuries to people involved.