Two dead after plane crashes into homes near San Diego: what you need to know

Fire crews work the scene of a small plane crash, Monday, October 11, 2021, in Santee, California. (Photo: AP)

A small plane crashed in a densely populated San Diego suburb on Monday, killing at least two people, including a UPS driver, and leaving a trail of destruction that sent neighbours scrambling to help neighbours. At least two others were injured.

Witnesses described a retired couple being rescued from one of two homes that were destroyed in Santee, a largely residential suburb of 50,000 people. Ten other homes were damaged.

Several vehicles, including a delivery truck, were also torched.

An Indian-origin cardiologist was among the two people killed after the twin-engine plane owned by the doctor crashed in the US state of California causing a fire that swept through nearby homes and left a trail of destruction, several media reports said on Monday. A UPS worker, who was on the ground, was the second person to have been killed in the crash.

Dr Sugata Das, who worked as an interventional cardiologist at the Yuma Regional Medical Center (YRMC) in Arizona.

Das, who was born in a Bengali family and grew up in Pune, was a father to two boys and lived in San Diego. He was the owner of a twin-engine Cessna 340 and an instrument-rated pilot who flew between his home and Yuma. He was also the director of the Power of Love Foundation, a US non-profit organisation involved in helping women and children overseas infected or affected by AIDS and HIV, according to its website.