A small plane crashed near Bridgeport Road and Sweden Way in North Richmond, killing the two people on board, police confirmed Thursday night.

City of Richmond spokesperson Ted Townsend confirmed Friday morning that two adult males who were transporting blood for Canadian Blood Services died in the crash.

Their names have not been released, as the next of kin have yet to be notified, he said.

Although the scene remains behind yellow police tape, Townsend and former Richmond RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Peter Thiessen, viewed the scene Friday.

Townsend said the plane was completely destroyed, and aside from a few short pieces of charred fuselage, is virtually unrecognizable.

The massive fireball that resulted from the plane crashing into the parking lot destroyed several cars parked at the back of Premier Transmissions, owned by Richmond's Mahmood Awan.

He's been told that his business will be closed at least one day, but perhaps as long as another week as investigators comb over the twisted mass of metal which sits amidst blackened cars and automobile transmissions.

The chartered plane, which was traveling from Victoria to Vancouver International Airport, went down around 10:03 p.m. It crashed into a parking lot behind a building on Vickers Way and there were no other injuries.

Townsend noted that it was fortunate the plane crashed into the parking lot, and that it narrowly missed striking a high-voltage tower that if struck might have affected many more locals. But there was a power disruption to an area around the crash scene, with power restored to some homes by Friday morning.

The plane was a Piper Navajo, a small twin-engine plane that can carry up to eight people.

RCMP District Commander Peter German said Thursday night that two people inside the plane died but apparently nobody on the ground was injured.

"We're very lucky, very fortunate in that regard," German said of the fact none of the retail businesses in the area were struck. There was no danger to the neighbourhood around the crash scene.

The Transportation Safety Board investigators arrived at the scene around 11:45 p.m. to begin their investigation into the cause of the crash.

Witness Steve Beland, who lives in a townhouse in the area, said he rushed to the scene and saw a plane that had crashed into a parking lot sandwiched between two rows of warehouses and had narrowly missed striking a small car.

He could see people rushing to the plane to apparently help those on board, and fire and smoke coming from the plane.

He could distinguish the plane's crumpled wing, but couldn't see anybody on board.

He said it appeared the plane had banked to its left when it smashed into the ground.

Witness Jason Sandhu was driving the East-West Connector when he saw "a huge fireball" and rushed toward the scene to see what had happened.

Debbie Harris was in her townhouse when the lights began to flicker and her building shook. When she walked out, she could see a telephone pole on fire and smoke billowing into the air.

A Coca-Cola truck driver told reporters that he saw the plane nose dive into the ground.

The area southwest of the Ikea was cordoned off by the Richmond RCMP and several ambulances were seen rushing to the scene. The RCMP helicopter Air One was shining its spotlight on the crash site, circling the area while large passenger airplanes continued to fly overhead on their approach to Vancouver International Airport.

Even in the darkness, a dark grey cloud of smoke could be seen billowing from the area of several warehouses.

—with files from Bhreandain Clugston and Stephanie Ip.