Several people have been killed following a small plane crash in central Switzerland.

Swiss police said the aircraft went down in a forest near the town of Hergiswil on Saturday morning and burst into flames upon impact.

A helicopter was subsequently dispatched to douse the wreckage in water before rescue workers arrived at the scene.

Officials have not yet been able to ascertain the exact number and identity of those who died.

Hergiswil is located about 10 km south of Lucerne, in the canton of Nidwalden.

Last year three people died after a plane crash-landed at a summer camp in the mountainous canton of Granbunden, in the east of the country.