A small passenger plane crashed into a residential building in the western German town of Korschenbroich on Saturday, killing two people, North-Rhine Westphalia police said.  

The town is located near the city of Mönchengladbach and is not far from the Dutch border.

What we know about the crash

According to police, the plane struck the terrace of a building at around 12:30 p.m. (1030 GMT/UTC) and then a fire broke out.

German news agency dpa reported that one of the two people killed was the 71-year-old pilot, citing police.

Police said the pilot was from Düsseldorf and appeared to have been sitting alone in the aircraft.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the other person had been a passenger on the plane or had been on the ground.

Firefighters responded in numbers with the local control center saying that around 50 personnel had been deployed. They managed to douse the flames rapidly.

The cause of the crash has yet to be established.

Edited by: Zac Crellin