Three people are believed to have died in the US after a cargo plane carrying Amazon deliveries crashed "nose first" in Texas.

The Boeing 767 cargo jetliner, which was being operated for Amazon Prime Air, was travelling from Miami to Houston when officials lost radar with the plane about 30 miles away from its destination.

It crashed into a bay near the city on Saturday after a rapid descent, and three people were on board at the time.

Witnesses said the twin-engine plane "went in nose first" before disintegrating upon impact.

Debris was littered across an almost mile-long stretch in Trinity Bay, according to Chambers County sheriff Brian Hawthorne.

He described the scene as one of "total devastation" - adding: "It's probably a crash that nobody would survive."

The plane made a steep descent from 6,525ft to 3,025ft in 30 seconds, according to tracking data from FlightAware.com.

Mr Hawthorne said witnesses reported hearing the engines surging and that the aircraft turned sharply before it fell into a nosedive.

According to US media reports, human remains have been found - and the cargo jet was on a daily flight between Miami and Houston. Police so far do not know what cargo the plane was carrying.

Officials fear the recovery of bodies, debris and the plane's black box will be hampered by the challenging landscape.

The plane, which was minutes away from landing at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, crashed into muddy marshland and can only be accessed by air boats.

The coast guard dispatched one helicopter to assist in the search for survivors, and a dive team is going to search for the black box.

Atlas Air has been operating Boeing 767 freighters on behalf of Amazon since a deal was struck in 2016.

Dave Clark, senior vice president of worldwide operations at Amazon, said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the flight crew, their families and friends along with the entire team at Atlas Air during this terrible tragedy".