Papua New Guinea plane crashes, toll unknown
The Airlines PNG Dash 8 crashed en route from Lae to Madang in PNG's north, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said from the PNG capital Port Moresby. Residents said there was a violent storm in the area at the time.
"There were reports of fire and there have been some fatalities," Sid O'Toole, from the PNG Accident Investigation Commission, told the ABC.
Police and ambulances had reached the crash site and investigators would be travelling there on Friday, he said.
The Dash 8 is a series of twin-engined, medium-range, turboprop airliners. Introduced by De Havilland Canada in 1984, they are now made by Bombardier Aerospace.
(Reporting by Michael Perry in Sydney; Editing by Nick Macfie)