Four foreigners were killed when a small plane crashed at London Southend Airport shortly after take-off, United Kingdom police say.

The US-built Beechcraft B200 Super King Air plane had been bound for the Netherlands, when it “got into difficulty and crashed within the airport boundary,” Essex Police Detective Chief Superintendent Morgan Cronin told reporters.

The plane operated by Dutch firm Zeusch Aviation had flown from Athens, Greece to Pula in Croatia on Sunday before heading to Southend.

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It was due to return to its home base of Lelystad, in the Netherlands, on Sunday evening.

The 12-metre-long turboprop plane came down moments after take-off and burst into flames.

“Sadly, we can now confirm that all four people on board died,” Cronin said.

“We are working to officially confirm their identities.”

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

Zeusch Aviation operates medical evacuation and transplant flights as well as aerial mapping and private charters, according to its website.

The company said that “it is with deep sadness that we confirm there were no survivors among the four people on board flight SUZ1”.

Southend Airport, which is located about 56km east of the capital and used by easyJet to fly to European holiday destinations, will remain closed until further notice, the airport’s CEO Jude Winstanley said.

The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch, which investigates civil aircraft accidents, said it was “too early” to determine what caused the crash.

It has deployed eight inspectors to the site.

The Beechcraft B200 Super King Air, first built in the 1970s, is an aviation workhorse used for a wide variety of roles around the world.

In 2017, a plane of the same model crashed into the roof of a shopping mall in Melbourne, Australia moments after take-off, killing the pilot and four US tourists.

- With AP and PA