Gardai have confirmed that a man and a seven-year-old boy have died following a plane crash in County Offaly.

Their bodies have been recovered tonight and brought to the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore for a post mortem examination.

The light aircraft crashed into bogland near Edenderry this afternoon after taking off earlier from an airstrip at Clonbullogue with 16 parachutists on board - all of whom made their jump, before the plane was spotted in difficulty.

Gardaí and a team from the Air Accident Investigation Unit are on site, which has been sealed off as part of their investigation.