JAPAN – 3 people were killed in a light aircraft crash in Japan’s Fukuoka province according to police reports on Tuesday.

The crash was reported in a mountainous area, and the wreckage had no original shape, with no wings, while its parts had turned into ash, Kyodo News reported.

Authorities launched a search following an emergency call about the crash in the Yame area of the province at around 10.40 am local time.

The plane crew had sent a distress signal after leaving an airport in neighboring Saga province.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, as well as the Saga airport office, the plane was a single-engine propeller Cirrus SR20.

The deceased were residents of Kyoto and Kobe provinces, according to the local government in Saga.