Four foreign nationals died on board a plane that crashed after taking off from London Southend Airport, Essex Police said.

The medical transport plane bound for the Netherlands crashed at around 3.48pm on Sunday.

Two Dutch pilots and a Chilean nurse were among those on board, according to a document which lists passengers, the PA news agency understands.

It is also understood that the plane had dropped off a patient at Southend and was due to return to its base in the Netherlands.

Witnesses told of seeing a “fireball”, while images of fire and black smoke were shared on social media.

In a statement at the airport on Monday, Chief Superintendent Morgan Cronin said: “Yesterday afternoon, an aircraft which had landed here earlier in the day took off bound for the Netherlands.

“Shortly

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