Four people have died after a small plane crashed into a residential neighbourhood in the city of Riverside in California, local fire chief Michael Moore has told reporters.

It was unclear if the victims had been on the aircraft, which had five on board, or in the two homes hit by the plane, he said."We still are actively searching for victims," he said. "This involved two residences and reportedly they had residents in both homes, we've only been able to account for one person in the home that is also deceased."There appeared to have been two adults and three teenagers on the plane, who had been in the area for a cheerleading competition at Disneyland.