<\/p>\n
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – First responders are searching for more victims Wednesday after a UPS cargo plane crashed and exploded in a massive fireball at the company\u2019s global aviation hub in Kentucky, killing at least nine people and injuring 11, authorities said.<\/p>\n
The plane crashed about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday as it was departing for Honolulu from UPS Worldport at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear posted online Wednesday morning that 16 families who gathered at a reunification center \u201chave reported loved ones unaccounted for.\u201d<\/p>\n
The airport is 7 miles (11.2 kilometers) from downtown Louisville, close to the Indiana state line, residential areas, a water park and museums. Emergency officials initially put out a shelter-in-place order for a 5-mile (8-kilometer) radius. By Wednesday morning, that was reduced to a quarter of a mile (400-meter) radius, as officials monitored the air quality,<\/p>\n
Over 200 emergency workers responded to the crash Tuesday night and the city will continue to use all available resources, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg told WLKY-TV on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
Video showed flames on the plane\u2019s left wing and a trail of smoke. The plane then lifted slightly off the ground before crashing and exploding in flames. Video showed portions of a building\u2019s shredded roof next to the end of the runway.<\/p>\n
Beshear said a business, Kentucky Petroleum Recycling, appeared to be \u201chit pretty directly,\u201d and a nearby auto parts operation was also affected. He said the crash narrowly missed a restaurant bar, a Ford plant, and the city\u2019s convention center that was hosting a livestock show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said he didn’t know the status of the three crew members aboard the plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 made in 1991. It wasn’t immediately clear if they were being counted among the dead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beshear said he expects the death toll to increase. Eleven people were also hurt. Beshear said two of the injured are in critical care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnybody who has seen the images, the video, knows how violent this crash is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Louisville package handling facility is the company’s largest. UPS announced late Tuesday that package sorting at the center was halted, and the company told workers to not show up Wednesday, too.<\/p>\n
The hub employs thousands of workers, handles 300 flights daily and sorts more than 400,000 packages an hour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know somebody who works at UPS,\u201d Louisville Metro Council member Betsy Ruhe said. \u201cAnd they\u2019re all texting their friends, their family, trying to make sure everyone is safe. Sadly, some of those texts are probably going to go unanswered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eric Richardson stood outside a police training academy, where people gathered waiting for word of their missing loved ones Tuesday night. He said was hoping for information about his girlfriend, who had been at a metal recycling business near the explosion and wasn\u2019t answering her phone. Her phone\u2019s live location said she was still there.<\/p>\n
Bobby Whelan, Richardson\u2019s friend, had been in front of her in line, but had left minutes before the explosion. He said he was about a quarter of a mile down the road when he heard what sounded like a bomb exploding.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t even want to think about anything but the best,\u201d Whelan said. \u201cAll our friends were there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tom Brooks Jr., who runs a metal recycling business down the street, said the unbelievable magnitude of the crash \u201cjust rocked the whole place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was massive. I mean, it literally looked like a war zone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Destyn Mitchell was working as a host at an Outback restaurant, about a 15-minute drive from the crash, when she heard a loud boom.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople 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,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pablo Rojas, an aviation attorney, said that based on videos of the crash the aircraft appeared to be struggling to gain altitude as a fire blazed on its left side around one of its engines. Given the fuel the plane was carrying, it was only a matter of time before the blaze spread rapidly or an explosion happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally the plane itself is almost acting like a bomb because of the amount of fuel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Greenberg said the National Transportation Safety Board has sent a 28-strong crew to investigate the crash.<\/p>\n
The airport, which also shut down for the night, resumed operations Wednesday morning, with at least one runway open. Flights that were canceled Tuesday were scheduled to depart and arrive first. Some flights previously scheduled to take off from the airport Wednesday morning were canceled.<\/p>\n
Some stranded passengers spent the night in the airport, and nearby roads remained closed Wednesday morning. A public school district in Louisville canceled classes and activities for the day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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