Two people have been killed after a light plane crashed near homes and a school in Sydney.

The plane was so charred after a fire following a collision with a power pole that rescuers had trouble determining how many people were on board.

Authorities initially said the pilot died in the crash and that they were trying to confirm if another person was on board.

The federal transport minister later said that police had confirmed two people had been on the plane and that both were killed.

The plane hit a power pole and came to rest partly in the street and the garden of a home near a school in the west of the city.

Emergency officials evacuated about 80 students, teachers and parents to a nearby park.

Debris from the plane smashed into a car that had three children and an adult inside. Two of the children and the driver were among seven people treated for shock.

The plane also brought down power lines, cutting electricity to thousands of homes.