Two dead as small plane crashes into southern California neighborhood

A small plane has crashed into a backyard of a residential neighborhood in southern California, killing two people onboard and damaging homes, local authorities said.

The Ventura County Fire Department said firefighters received reports Saturday afternoon of a single-engine aircraft that had crashed into two houses in Simi Valley, northwest of Los Angeles.

Police and the medical examiner's office "verified there were two passengers in the aircraft, both of whom were fatally injured in the accident," the county fire department wrote on X.