Three men have been confirmed dead following the crash of a small aircraft in a mountainous area of Yame city on Tuesday morning.

Emergency services were alerted at around 10:40 a.m. when a local resident reported seeing black smoke and what appeared to be a Cessna aircraft crash. Police and firefighters subsequently located debris on a mountain near the border with Oita Prefecture. The three men, believed to have been aboard the aircraft, were found at the scene and pronounced dead.

Authorities said two of the victims were from Kyoto and one from Kobe. Police are working to verify their identities.

The aircraft involved is believed to have been a Cirrus SR20, a five-seater, single-propeller plane manufactured by Cirrus Aircraft in the United States. A distress signal was reportedly received at around 10:31 a.m., roughly 20 minutes after the plane departed from Kyushu-Saga International Airport.

The flight had arrived at Kyushu-Saga International Airport from Yao Airport in Osaka Prefecture on Monday. According to its flight plan, the plane was scheduled to depart Kyushu-Saga at approximately 10:15 a.m. Tuesday and return to Yao Airport by 12:45 p.m.

Investigations into the cause of the crash are ongoing. (ILKHA)