LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) 鈥� A UPS cargo plane crashed and exploded in a massive fireball Tuesday while taking off from the company鈥檚 global aviation hub in Louisville, Kentucky, 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 shredded roof next to the end of the runway.
The death toll had risen to at least seven Tuesday night, and four of those killed were not on the plane, officials said.
Among the 11 who were hurt, some had 鈥渧ery significant鈥� injuries, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said.
鈥淎nybody who has seen the images, the video, knows how violent this crash is,鈥� 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鈥檚 largest package handling facility is in Louisville and the company announced Tuesday night that it had halted package sorting at the center and didn鈥檛 say when it would resume. The hub employs thousands of workers, has 300 daily flights and sorts more than 400,000 packages an hour.
鈥淲e all know somebody who works at UPS,鈥� Louisville Metro Council member said. 鈥淎nd they鈥檙e all texting their friends, their family, trying to make sure everyone is safe. Sadly, some of those texts are probably going to go unanswered.鈥�
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg says the National Transportation Safety Board is handling the investigation and sending 28 people.
The airport, meanwhile, was shut down and wasn鈥檛 expected to resume operations until Wednesday morning.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know how long it鈥檚 going to take to render that scene safe,鈥� said Louisville Police Chief Paul Humphrey.
The governor said a business, Kentucky Petroleum Recycling, appeared to be 鈥渉it pretty directly,鈥� and a nearby auto parts operation was also affected.
Eric Richardson stood outside a police training academy where people gathered looking for information about missing loved ones Tuesday night, hoping to find out what had happened to his girlfriend. She had been at a metal recycling business near the explosion and wasn’t answering her phone, he told the AP. Her phone’s live location said she was still there.
Bobby Whelan, Richardson’s friend had been in front of her in line, but had left minutes before the explosion. He said he was about a quarter mile down the road when he heard what sounded like a bomb exploding.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 even want to think about anything but the best,鈥� Whelan said. 鈥淎ll our friends were there.鈥�
A video taken by Leirim Rodr铆guez shows several massive balls of flames exploding into the sky in a row, followed by large billowing clouds of black smoke.
Tom Brooks Jr., who runs a metal recycling business down the street, said the unbelievable magnitude of the crash 鈥渏ust rocked the whole place.鈥�
鈥淭his was massive. I mean, it literally looked like a war zone,” he said.
Destyn Mitchell said she was working as a host at an Outback restaurant, about a 15-minute drive from the crash, when she heard a loud boom. About 20 people were in the restaurant.
鈥淭he mood in the restaurant was very shaken up,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淓veryone is really concerned. People who just sat down to eat got up and left in under 30 minutes and packed up their food because they wanted to hurry up and get home.鈥�
Pablo Rojas, an aviation attorney, said that based on the videos it looked like the aircraft was struggling to gain altitude as a fire blazed on its left side around one of its engines. Given the large amount of fuel it was carrying, once the fire started in that area, it would鈥檝e been only a matter of time before there was an explosion or the fire grew rapidly.
鈥淩eally the plane itself is almost acting like a bomb because of the amount of fuel,鈥� he said.
The Louisville airport is only a 10-minute drive from the city鈥檚 downtown, which sits on the Ohio River bordering the Indiana state line. There are residential areas, a water park and museums in the area.
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Golden reported from Seattle. AP reporters Ed White in Detroit, John Raby in Cross Lanes, West Virginia, and Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, contributed to this report.
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