Helsinki, Finland :  Eight people were killed in Finland's Satakunta region when a small plane carrying 10 skydivers crashed Sunday.

There were 11 people on board -- 10 passengers and a pilot -- when the accident happened around 3.30 p.m. (1230 GMT) near the Jamijarvi Airport, a popular gliding centre shared by parachuting clubs, Xinhua reported.

The pilot and two parachuters survived by ejecting from the aircraft before it crashed, and eight people were found dead around the wreckage.

Petri Kangas, chief inspector from the Finnish southwest police department said something went wrong with the plane and made it break apart three or four kilometres up in the air. The incident, however, is being investigated to ascertain what exactly caused the crash.

The injured were rushed to hospital in Tampere, a major city some 80 km away. None of them was in serious condition, a doctor at the site said.