Light plane crashed in Toliara, Madagascar
ANTANANARIVO, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Six people died when their light plane crashed shortly after takeoff in the southwest of Madagascar, the transport minister said on Wednesday.
Both Madagascan pilots and all four foreign passengers, whose nationalities were not known, died, he said.
"A small plane belonging to a private airline, la Société de Transport Aérien, crashed at about 4.15 am in Toliara ... killing 6 people," Roland Randriamampionona, Minister of Transport and Public Works, said on national radio.
Francis Ramanantsoa, director of the regional tourism office who was on the scene after the accident, said the crash happened about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the runway.
"The plane caught fire and the six bodies were all burnt to ashes," he told Reuters by phone.
The transport minister said an inquest had been set up to determine the cause of the crash.