An Airbus A400M military transport plane carrying "eight to 10" people crashed near Seville in southern Spain on Saturday while apparently on a test flight, officials said.

"The plane that crashed a mile north of Seville airport in an non-residential area was not a commercial craft," said a spokesman for the regional emergency services.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said there were "eight to 10 people on board".

Meanwhile, Spain's busy southern Seville airport was closed to traffic Saturday following the crash nearby of an Airbus military plane, the AENA airport authority said.

"Seville airport is closed to traffic. It's firefighters are on the scene of an accident outside the grounds," AENA said on twitter.

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