Three people have died after a small plane crashed into a residential building in the German city of Wesel, around 35 miles north of Dusseldorf, on Saturday afternoon.

Police said the roof of the apartment building caught fire after the microlight plane crashed into it.

Witnesses told local media that they saw the aircraft collide with a hot-air balloon shortly before the crash, which also injured a child.

The injured child is thought to have been living in one of the five apartments in the building, the spokesperson said.

According to local media reports, the victims are yet to be identified and it’s not known if the pilot is among them as the aircraft was only capable of carrying two people. 

Wesel police spokesman Peter Reuters said: “What we know so far is that at 2.40pm here in Wesel, an ultralight aircraft crashed into a residential building, whose attic went up in flames.

“On the first inspection of the house, three dead bodies were found in the attic.

“We cannot give any information as to their identities at the moment. We are still investigating the cause of the crash.”

He added: “We are using search dogs as we still have no reliable information on the whereabouts of the pilot and co-pilot. So we are using rescue dogs to conduct a thorough search of the area around the crash site.

“To our knowledge the plane started its flight in Marl and made a pitstop here in Wesel. It then flew off again and shortly afterwards it crashed.”