A small plane crashed Monday in a southern California neighborhood near a school.
At least two people died and two others were injured.
Several houses were also affected by the crash and the subsequent fire that broke out, authorities said.
The accident occurred shortly after noon in the city of Santee, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) northeast of San Diego and
about three blocks from Santana High School
.
The school reported on Twitter that "all students are safe."
Two people were badly burned and taken to a hospital
, said Santee Fire Chief John Garlow, who could not confirm whether the victims were aboard the plane before it crashed or were on the ground when it fell.
A burning home after a plane crash in a Santee, California neighborhood on October 11, 2021NBC 7
The flames almost completely engulfed two houses.
Dozens of firefighters came to the area to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading to nearby buildings.
A vehicle in the area of the accident also caught fire.
It is believed that it may have been a UPS delivery van.
An NBC San Diego correspondent who was in the area of the accident reported that
there was a body lying on the side of the destroyed truck
.
"It's a pretty brutal scene for our guys and we're trying to analyze it," Garlow said.
[Southwest Airlines cancels thousands of flights and delays and interrupts hundreds more]
The Federal Aviation Authority preliminarily indicated that it was a twin-engine Cessna aircraft.
Federal authorities did not report how many people were on board the aircraft.
An air traffic controller told NBC 7 that the plane had departed from Yuma, Arizona, and was heading for the Gillespie airstrip near the high school.
Federal aviation agencies are investigating the causes of the crash.
A neighbor told our sister network affiliate NBC News that she and her husband were having lunch when they heard the plane crash.
"It felt like someone crashed into my garage
," Lily Patch told NBC 7.
The couple believed at first that it was an earthquake, but when they left the house they saw a fire.
Then, when reviewing the video from one of their security cameras, they realized that the plane had crashed in their neighborhood.
"You can see how it comes and crashes with all its force. It did not turn, it did nothing. It could only be heard and it fell," he added.
Soon more information ...