³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Five Canadians, including three children, were killed when a small plane crashed near a major motorway in Nashville, Tennessee, officials said.

The pilot reported engine troubles in a call to a Nashville airport around 19:40 EST (00:40 GMT) on Monday.

The aircraft was cleared to make an emergency landing there, but the pilot told air traffic control that he would not make it, Nashville police said.

The aircraft burst into flames upon crashing.

It landed in a grassy area near a Costco supermarket.

The implosion shut down parts of the interstate I-40, but the plane did not hit any other vehicles or buildings before it crashed, according to Metro Nashville Police spokesperson Don Aaron.

The plane had departed from Ontario, officials said, and had made two stops - in Pennsylvania and Kentucky - along the way.

The victims have yet to be named.

Nashville Fire Department spokesperson Kendra Loney said witnesses told authorities that the plane imploded on impact in the "catastrophic" crash, according to local newspaper .

Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze but keep parts of the plane for evidence, Ms Loney said.

Mr Aaron said that witnesses saw the plane was "obviously in distress as it was coming over the interstate, right before it hit the ground".

"I think he was having significant issues keeping the aircraft under control," Mr Aaron said.

Just before the plane crashed, the pilot told an air traffic control tower: "I'm too far away, I won't make it", according to audio of the emergency call that was released.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are probing the cause of the crash.

Officials say it is too early to determine what may have caused the crash.

According to the Associated Press news agency, the plane was a single-engine Piper PA-32R, made in 1978 and based in Ontario.