Multiple people have been killed after a small aircraft crashed in Canada. 

Police found the wreck of a Piper PA-32 plane in dense woodland near Kingston, Ontario, late Wednesday after it had been reported missing earlier in the day.

Officers said the plane was difficult to access so decided to wait until Thursday morning and the arrival of air crash investigators in order to recover it.

Kingston Police tweeted early Thursday that police, investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) and coroner’s office are on the scene and asked motorists to avoid the area.

TSB said the plane had taken off from Buttonville Municipal Airport, in Markham, north of Toronto, early Wednesday and had been heading for Kingston Airport.

The plane was later reported missing, and police sent to search for it.

Emergency crews were called to a wooded area north of Kingston some time before 6.30pm, and shortly afterwards announced they had located the wreck.

The crash site is a little over four miles from the plane’s destination. 

TSB said the cause of the accident is unknown, but the suspect weather played a part. Environment Canada was warning of gusts up to 50mph.

Police said they will not be revealing the number of fatalities until their investigation has been completed.