5 die as plane hits Melbourne mall
melbourne — A light aircraft smashed into shops and exploded into a “massive fireball” killing all five on board, including four American passengers reportedly golfers on the trip of a lifetime, officials in Australia said on Tuesday.
The twin-engined Beechcraft plane veered just after take-off into a shopping centre, that was still closed, next to Essendon Fields airport near Melbourne.
“Five on the aircraft and looks like no one has survived the crash,” said Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane.
Premier Daniel Andrews described it as “the worst civil aviation accident that our state has seen for 30 years”.
The private charter from Essendon, north of Melbourne, to King Island, 55 minutes to the south, came down just short of a major motorway packed with the heavy traffic of early morning commuters.
Live television footage showed burned out wreckage, flames and major damage at the shopping centre and adjacent buildings.
A column of thick black smoke rose into the air as witnesses spoke of an explosion. —