A U.S. cargo plane crashed in an unpopulated area between two highways in Dubai late Friday, killing two pilots on board, authorities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said.

Smoke rises from the scene of a plane crash in Dubai Sept. 3, 2010. A 747-400 Boeing cargo plane operated by United Parcel Service Inc crashed shortly after takeoff into a military compound near Dubai's airport on Friday, killing two crew members, authorities said. [Xinhua]

The plane, a Boeing 747-400 belonging to U.S. parcel delivery company UPS, caught fire after the crash, the General Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement, according to the state news agency WAM.

All measures had been taken to extinguish the fire and the two pilots' bodies were recovered, the statement said.

"The concerned authorities are conducting necessary investigations to identify the cause of the crash," it added, without confirming if there were more casualties on ground.

Earlier, Dubai-based Al Arabiya TV channel said a cargo plane crashed on a busy highway in Dubai, setting some cars on fire.

Ambulances were rushing to the area, located near a residential district, Al Arabiya said, adding that preliminary reports indicated that all crew members might have been killed.

A UAE senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a fire broke in the plane as it attempted to land at the Dubai International Airport, causing its crash, according to the TV channel.

Meanwhile, Dubai-based English daily Khaleej Times said on its website that the police have confirmed the crash.

The cargo plane crashed near a military campus, Col. Omer Al Shamsi, deputy director of Operations Room of Dubai Police, was quoted as saying.

UPS also confirmed on its website that one of its planes had been involved in an accident, saying the plane headed from Dubai to Cologne, Germany, with two crew members aboard.

Headquartered in Atlanta, UPS is the world's largest package delivery company with operations in more than 200 countries and regions.

In October last year, six crew members were killed when a Sudanese Boeing 707 cargo plane crashed in Sharjah, a neighboring emirate of Dubai.