A small private plane crashed on Sunday in a field south of Mönchengladbach, western Germany, killing all three people on board.

The Cessna plane had taken off from Hilversum airport, north of Utrecht, in the Netherlands. According to German media reports, shortly after entering German airspace, the plane lost altitude and crashed in the morning near the Erkelenz-Gerderath area.

Rescue teams quickly arrived at the scene, but found that none of the three people on board had survived.

German authorities have not yet released the identities of the victims, while they have launched investigations to determine the causes and circumstances of the crash.