ASUNCION, Paraguay (AFP) - A small plane crashed and exploded in Paraguay, killing six people, the police said on Saturday.

Two Brazilians and a Spaniard are among those who died when the aircraft crashed into a cornfield late Friday about 280km north-east of the capital Asuncion.

The accident happened about an hour after the plane - the remains of which are completely charred - left the city, according to a prosecutor and an assistant coroner.

The police identified the two Brazilians as soy producers Moacir Kuschel and his son Adriano.

The dead Spaniard was identified as Mr Jose Daniel Hidalgo Carrera.