Five of the victims were critically injured, said Fire Department Battalion Chief Bob Franco. Police had no immediate information about possible deaths.

Witnesses saw the plane plunge into the building at about 3:50 p.m. in the Fairfax section of Los Angeles, near Hollywood.

"I looked up and saw the plane just do a nosedive," area resident Aaron Hooker told KABC-TV. "It didn't seem real."

The building, which had about 30 units, burned fiercely at first, but firefighters had the blaze under control in about a half-hour.

The origin of the plane was not known. A Federal Aviation Administration duty officer said she knew only that a small plane had crashed.

California authorities notified the Homeland Security Department about the crash, and the agency was working with state and local officials to monitor the situation, spokeswoman Rachael Sunbarger said. She said it was too soon to answer questions about possible links to terrorism.

Adam Krolfifer of High Point, N.C., was in line waiting to see a taping of The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn when he heard a plane overhead.

"We were waiting at CBS Studios. I heard a plane, like he was doing acrobatic moves. About four minutes later, we saw a huge plume of black smoke," said Krolfifer.

(China Daily June 7, 2003)