Debris lies on a motorway after a plane crashed in Malaysia's Selangor state on Thursday (August 17) | REUTERS

At least 10 people in Malaysia are dead after a small airplane crashed into a motorbike and a car on a highway on Thursday.

A small private jet crashed into a motorbike and a car while attempting to land at an airport on the outskirts of the country's capital Kuala Lumpur, Reuters reported, citing local police officials.

Police officials told Reuters that the 10 people — including the two drivers of the car and motorbike and all eight people on board the plane — had died.

A statement from Malaysia's Aviation Authority on Thursday confirmed the crash but did not confirm the death toll.

The aviation authority said that a search and rescue operation was underway.

The plane, which had departed from the tropical island of Langkawi in the north of the country, had been given clearance to land, but just minutes later, air traffic control at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport "observed smoke originating from the crash site but no mayday call was made by the aircraft."

The country's aviation authority said that the aircraft had been operated by Jet Valet Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian private jet services company.

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