Australia: 5 die as small plane crashes into mall

A PILOT and four American passengers were killed on Tuesday when a small plane crashed in to the roof of a shopping mall after taking off from an airfield outside Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, police said.

The Beechcraft King Air plane suffered an engine failure and crashed into the mall near the end of the runway at Essendon Airport, Victoria state police assistant commissioner Stephen Leane said. “There were five people on the aeroplane and it looks like nobody’s survived the crash,” Leane said.

The crash happened at 9 am, about an hour before the mall was due to open and there were no fatalities other than those in the aircraft, he added.

Witnesses said the plane exploded on impact.