A private passenger plane crashed into an office building killing everyone on board in a horrifying incident near Milan this afternoon.
Eight people, including a child, died as the small aircraft erupted into a fireball on collision outside a metro station in San Donato Milanese in Italy on Sunday.
The Pilatus PC-12 flight had taken off from Linate city airport in Italy's fashion capital and was heading for the island of Sardinia, officials have said.
The aircraft is a single-engine, turboprop business aircraft, which can also be used for carrying cargo or up to nine passengers.
It is not yet clear what caused the crash.
Witnesses described seeing multiple parked cars go up in flames as plumes of smoke shot into the sky following the impact at around 1pm local time.
Photos show debris scattered across the scene in the small town.
The victims are understood to have been six French tourists, a Romanian pilot and another crew member, according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
No other casualties have been reported.
Emergency crews rushed to the chaotic scene, but none of the passengers could be saved.
Firefighters tweeted that no one aside from those aboard were involved and the vehicles which were set ablaze were unoccupied.
A thick column of dark smoke rose from the crash site and was visible for several miles.
Photos show fire crews continuing to extinguish the charred building with bright orange flames raging.
"I saw the plane swoop down and then crash there," said shocked eyewitness, Andrea, aged 19.
The teenager explained how he quickly called his friends after hearing loud noises before seeing pieces of metal spraying across the street.
The office block is still under construction and was empty at the time of the crash.
The pilot has been named across several news platforms as 30-year-old Dan Petrescu.
Carlo Cardinali, an officer of the Milan fire brigade, said: "The plane hit the building on the facade, with an extremely violent impact.
"The pilot made a turn, so he noticed some anomaly."
The remains of the plane are scattered over a large area around the scene of the crash.
Italian authorities have launched an investigation into the incident to establish the causes of the crash.
