Up to nine feared dead in US plane crash: report

As many as nine people were feared dead Tuesday after a small private jet crashed into an apartment building in the midwestern US city of Akron, local media reported, citing the plane's owner.

The plane, a twin-engine business jet, was on approach to the airport in the Ohio city when it crashed, reports said.

The Akron Beacon Journal, citing the plane owner's Augusto Lewkowicz, said nine people were on board including two pilots.

"None are believed to be alive," the newspaper said in a report on its website, www.ohio.com.

Lewkowicz said he would not identify those on board before informing their families, saying: "I owe responses to the family members first."

Local television networks including the CBS affiliate in Cleveland, WOIO, said two people were so far confirmed dead.

Ohio Highway Patrol Staff Lieutenant Bill Haymaker said no one on the ground was killed or injured, according to reports.

City authorities said in a statement that firefighters had worked to extinguish the blaze caused by the crash, adding that an investigation had been launched and a team from the National Transportation Safety Board was due at the scene.