three dead as Small plane crashes in Japan Tokyo suburb

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A small plane carrying five passengers crashed in a Tokyo suburb Sunday, killing three people and leaving five hospitalised, rescue services reported.

Firefighters battled blazes that engulfed several houses in the middle of a residential area in the town of Chofu, about 20km west of central Tokyo. Two cars also caught fire.

Local television showed the house that received the full impact of the crash was burned to the ground.

"It was really horrible. It was dangerous," Japan's NHK news quoted a 82-year-old witness as saying.

According to the transport ministry, the single-engine Piper PA-46 took off on a training flight from nearby Chuo airport and shortly afterwards crashed into a building in a densely populated neighbourhood.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

The fatalities included a woman in the house plus two men on board the plane. The three remaining men on the plane and two women in the house were injured.