DHAKA: Eleven people have been killed when a plane carrying members of a parachute club crashed in southern Poland.

Rescue workers said only one of the 12 people on board survived and had suffered serious injuries.

The Piper Navajo light aircraft had just taken off from an airfield in Rudniki near Czestochowa. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.

Witnesses said the plane's engines had made an odd, droning sound before it began to fall from the sky.

Police spokeswoman Joanna Lazar said local people had helped to rescue the sole survivor.

Another witness, Robert Koziol, told Gazeta Wyborcza it appeared some of the passengers had tried to jump from the twin-engine plane, reports BBC.

Police and prosecutors have launched an investigation into the crash. 

BDST: 0950 HRS, JUL 06, 2014