At least three people died when a tourist plane carrying nine crashed in the center of Mexico city late Tuesday, said a public security ministry official, after initially saying all nine had died.

`Firemen, police and ambulances are on site. It was a plane travelling from San Luis Potosi (central Mexico) with nine passengers aboard. Some cars burned too,` the ministry official told AFP.

The city`s mayor, Marcelo Ebrard, said five seriously injured people had been transfered to hospitals and that a fire set off by the accident was under control.

`The explosion was enormous, the flames rose higher than the buildings on Reforma,` the capital`s main avenue, a witness told AFP.

The cause of the accident, which occurred shortly before 7:00 pm (0000 GMT), was unclear.