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At least 7 dead, 11 injured in UPS plane crash in Kentucky
Governor says numbers likely to grow after massive fireball erupts at company’s Louisville aviation hub
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A UPS cargo plane crashed and exploded in a massive fireball Tuesday while taking off from the company’s global aviation hub in Louisville, Ky., killing at least seven people and injuring 11, authorities said.
The plane crashed about 5:15 p.m. as it was departing for Honolulu from UPS Worldport at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.
Video showed flames on the plane's left wing and a trail of smoke. The plane then lifted slightly off the ground before crashing and exploding in a huge fireball. Video also revealed portions of a building’s shredded roof next to the end of the runway.
Among the 11 who were hurt, some had “very significant” injuries, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said.
“Anybody who has seen the images, the video, knows how violent this crash is,” he said.
Beshear said he didn't know the status of the three crew members aboard the plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 made in 1991.
UPS’s largest package handling facility is in Louisville. The hub employs thousands of workers, has 300 daily flights and sorts more than 400,000 packages an hour.
“We all know somebody who works at UPS,” Louisville Metro Council member Betsy Ruhe said. “And they’re all texting their friends, their family, trying to make sure everyone is safe. Sadly, some of those texts are probably going to go unanswered. My heart goes out to those families and those friends.”
The airport, meanwhile, was shut down and wasn’t expected to resume operations until Wednesday morning.
“We don’t know how long it’s going to take to render that scene safe,” Louisville Police Chief Paul Humphrey said.
The governor said a business, Kentucky Petroleum Recycling, appeared to be “hit pretty directly,” and a nearby auto parts operation also was affected.
A video taken by Leirim Rodríguez shows several massive balls of flames exploding into the sky in a row, followed by large billowing clouds of black smoke. Rodriguez told the AP she and her husband just happened to be in the area at the time of the explosion.
Tom Brooks Jr., who runs a metal recycling business down the street, said the unbelievable magnitude of the crash “just rocked the whole place.”
“This was massive. I mean, it literally looked like a war zone," he said.
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