Guatemala City, May 27 (IANS/EFE) At least four people died when a small plane crashed on the outskirts of the Guatemalan capital, authorities said.

The aircraft had taken off from La Aurora International Airport bound for Ilopango, El Salvador, civil aviation officials said.

The plane plunged to earth in a neighbourhood in the southern periphery of Guatemala City and crashed into a sawmill, according to firefighters who were dispatched to the scene.

A spokesman for the municipal fire department, Jose Rodriguez, told reporters Wednesday that the victims were identified as pilot Francisco Pineda and passengers Guillermo Said and Rolando Soto.

A worker at the sawmill, identified as Lazaro Estrada, was also killed.

Rodriguez said that emergency workers had to use special equipment to recover the bodies because the aircraft was completely destroyed.

At the time of the crash it was raining lightly but steadily.