Plane crash in US kills 5 Canadians

Five Canadians, including three children, were killed when a small plane crashed near a major motorway at Nashville in US state of Tennessee, officials said.

In a call to a Nashville airport around 19:40 EST (00:40 GMT) on Monday, the pilot of the plane reported engine troubles, reports BBC.

The aircraft was cleared to make an emergency landing there, but the pilot told air traffic control that he would not make it, Nashville police said.

The aircraft burst into flames upon crashing when it landed in a grassy area near a Costco supermarket.

The implosion shut down parts of the interstate I-40, but the plane did not hit any other vehicles or buildings before it crashed, according to Metro Nashville Police spokesperson Don Aaron.

The plane had departed from Ontario, officials said, and had made two stops - in Pennsylvania and Kentucky - along the way.

Nashville Fire Department spokesperson Kendra Loney said witnesses told authorities that the plane imploded on impact in the "catastrophic" crash, according to local newspaper the Tennessean.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze but keep parts of the plane for evidence, Loney said.