Police say four people died aboard a small plane that crashed shortly after taking off from London Southend Airport.

A witness who was at the airport with his family said he saw a “big fireball” after the plane “crashed head first into the ground.”

Four people have been revealed to have died in a plane crash at London Southend Airport as investigators try to find out why the aircraft plummeted to the ground seconds after take-off. The airport remains shut after the Beechcraft B200 aircraft crashed to the ground and erupted in a fireball on Sunday afternoon.