At least three people were killed and 11 were injured when a cargo plane crashed shortly after taking off from Louisville International Airport in the U.S. state of Kentucky on Tuesday, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said.
"We believe we have at least three fatalities. I believe that number is going to get larger," Beshear said at a press briefing.
A UPS cargo plane bound for Honolulu crashed near the airport, the worldwide air hub for UPS, around 5:15 p.m. (2215 GMT) on Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
As the plane exploded into a huge fireball, some responders "have had to shelter behind different things," Beshear said. "It is still a very dangerous situation with different flammables or potentially explosive materials."
The police first issued a shelter-in-place for all locations within 5 miles of the airport, later extending it to cover all areas north of the airport to the Ohio River.
The plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11F manufactured in 1991, can take off weighing in at a maximum 633,000 pounds and carrying more than 38,000 gallons of fuel, according to Boeing, which bought McDonnell Douglas.
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