Sri Lanka, April 26 -- Six police officers have been killed in Thailand after their plane crashed into the sea during a test flight for parachute training, police have said.

The small plane was seen crashing into the water at around 08:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Friday in the Cha-am district, a coastal resort area some 130km (80 miles) southwest of Bangkok.

Royal Thai Police said in a statement on Facebook that five of the officers died at the scene, with a sixth later dying in hospital.

Authorities are examining the aircraft's black box data recorder to determine the cause of the crash.

Local media said that the aircraft hit the water around 100 metres from the shore, while footage shared online showed people wading into the sea to...