A small passenger plane has crashed at Belgium’s Charleroi airport, killing two adults and three children and closing the airport.

The airport is a hub for Ryanair and other low-cost carriers.

The aircraft, a Cessna, had problems on takeoff and tried to return to Charleroi airport but crashed on the side of the runway, Belgian news agency Belga and Flemish state broadcaster VRT said.

Two adults and three children were killed, a Belgian official told RTBF radio.

There were no immediate indications of what caused the crash, which happened at 10am local time (9am GMT).

Police said the airport, which is a hub for Ryanair and other low-cost carriers, would be closed until 2pm (1pm GMT) and several flights were being diverted.

“Our priority is dealing with this drama. Flights are being diverted to Liege and Brussels,” Ms Milioto said.

The crash came at the start of the Belgium school half-term holidays.

Charleroi airport, also known as Brussels South Charleroi, serves as the country’s second international airport after Brussels’ main Zaventem airport and expects to handle 140,000 passengers over the half-term holiday period.