TWO PEOPLE ARE BELIEVED to have been killed when a plane  crashed in Dubai today.

Local officials say that an American UPS cargo plane crashed while attempting to land at the nearby Dubai International Airport, according to Al Arabiya.

Reuters reports that the bodies of the plane’s two pilots have already been recovered.

The plane was being diverted to a military compound after reporting trouble shortly after taking off from the airport. The UAE’s civil aviation chief Saif al-Suwaidi said that the pilot reported fire and smoke in the cockpit.

Initial reports that the plane crashed on a busy highway have been disputed by the state news agency who claim the plane crashed in an uninhabited desert area.

The plane was travelling from Dubai to Cologne, in Germany.

A spokesperson for UPS said that the company would do everything it could to find the cause of the crash. He said: “Our thoughts go out to the crew members involved in the incident and their families.”