Police aircraft crashes in Thailand, killing at least 5

A small police plane crashed near the shore of Thailand's resort town of Hua Hin on Friday morning, killing at least five people, the Thai police said.

The Thai national police said on its social media page that the aircraft of the police aviation division crashed into the sea off Cha-am District, Phetchaburi Province shortly after taking off from the nearby Hua Hin airport. Police initially reported there were "no survivors" and "all six officers on board died at the scene," but an police spokesperson later confirmed there was one survivor fighting for his left in hospital.

The police said the accident took place when the plane was conducting a test flight for parachute training.

Video footage showed the plane nosedived into the sea. Initial investigations suggest that the engine malfunctioned shortly after takeoff. The police said the cause of the accident will be investigated.

The police emergency center of Phetchaburi province said that it received notifications of a plane plunging into the sea just near a local resort at about 8:15 am.