A US military C-130 Hercules transport aircraft has crashed into fields in Mississippi, with all 16 aboard believed killed.

LeFlore County emergency services director Fred Randal has told local media 12 of the 16 bodies had so far been recovered in and around the burning wreck of the aircraft in dense soybean fields.

Firefighters have told local media they had been forced back from the wreckage on several occasions due to ‘high intensity’ explosions.

A Mississippi State Trooper said the aircraft was ‘loaded with ammunition’.

“There’s a lot of ammo in the plane. That’s why we are keeping so far back. We just don’t know what it’ll do. It burns a bit then goes out, burns a little more then dies down,” the trooper told WMC Action News 5 crews.

A USMC KC-130 mishap occurred the evening of July 10. Further information will be released as available. pic.twitter.com/QEFhooJZmC — U.S. Marines (@USMC) July 11, 2017

The aircraft is believed to have exploded mid-air as wreckage has been found on both sides of the nearby Highway 82

The aircraft was reportedly last detected by air traffic control at a height of 20,000 feet (6km).

Sheriff Ricky Banks earlier told media his officers were searching for bodies and that no survivors were expected.

The US Marine Corps Twitter account posted that “A USMC KC-130 mishap occurred the evening of July 10. Further information will be released as available.”

LeFlore County deputy coroner Will Gnemi says the crash site was in a rural area, and emergency services were scouring the thick soybean crops for bodies.

The C-130 Hercules is a workhorse four-engined turboprop aircraft used by military logistics, firefighting, disaster relief and search-and-rescue missions.

The KC-130 believed involved in this crash are used for air-to-air refuelling.