Wreckage from the Allied Air plane could be seen in an area near the airport along with a damaged bus. Local media said it was a cargo plane.

"It crash landed at the Elwak stadium, killing scores of people," said a senior military officer who did not want to be named. Asked for a specific death toll, he said 10, adding that the Allied Air plane had been coming in to land.

He said that the two pilots aboard the plane were thought to have survived. Details were however still emerging.