Three relatives of the late al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden were killed when a private plane crashed in Britain, police and the Saudi embassy said on Saturday.

It was not immediately clear how the victims were related to the late al Qaeda leader, whose family is one of the most prominent business dynasties in Saudi Arabia.

"We do believe three of the deceased to be the mother, sister and brother-in-law of the owner of the aircraft, all of whom are from the bin Laden family, but formal post-mortem examinations are ongoing," Hampshire Police said in a statement.

The Telegraph reported the victims included bin Laden's stepmother Rajaa Hashim and sister Sana, who worked in an orphanage in Saudi Arabia.