A Tokyo-bound plane has crashed while taking off from Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, capital of the Philippines.

Reportedly carrying medical supplies, the Philippines News Agency confirmed Lion Air flight RPC5880 caught fire on the runway.

All eight people on board - including six Filipinos, an American and a Canadian - are believed to have been killed.

The passengers included medical personnel, according to Red Cross spokesman Richard Gordon.

The civil aviation authority of the Philippines said the aircraft apparently encountered an unspecified “problem which resulted in a fire” as it rolled to take off.

The main runway at the airport was closed due to the accident.

Ninoy Aquino International had only minimal staff due to air travel restrictions that are part of a monthlong lockdown imposed by the government in the main northern Philippine region of Luzon, where Manila, the capital, lies, to fight the coronavirus outbreak, officials added.

Image: Rouelle Umali/Xinhua News Agency/PA Images