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QUITO, Ecuador - At least four people were killed when an Ecuadorean military plane crashed into two buildings yesterday in the fog-bound capital city Quito, authorities said.

Defense Minister Javier Ponce said the three military personnel aboard the Beechcraft plane died in the crash and one other person was killed on the ground.

Emergency officials on the site said the plane hit two buildings in a wealthy neighborhood in the northern sector of the city before it crashed in a backyard.

"I felt an explosion when I opened the front door and then heard a loud sound before we raced out," said Elena Morocho, a maid in a nearby home.

The plane crashed near a hotel and the US ambassador's residence in the city. A US Embassy spokeswoman said the ambassador was unharmed.

Fog often causes aviation difficulties and delays in the Andean mountain city. In the last two decades several planes have crashed in the hilly, Gonzalez Suarez neighborhood that stands on the path of landing planes.