JAKARTA - UPS' wide-body cargo plane crashed into a fireball moments after taking off from the international airport in Louisville, Kentucky. This tragic event killed seven people, including three people on board, and injured 11 people on land.
The fire from the crash sparked a series of fires in an industrial corridor adjacent to the airport, forcing authorities to stop flight operations throughout Tuesday night local time.
Louisville Airport, which is the location of UPS Worldport - the global hub for the shipping company's air cargo operations and its largest package handling facility in the world - is expected to reopen on Wednesday morning.
The two runways were filled with debris as a result of the accident.
As reported by Reuters, in a late Tuesday service alert, UPS said the schedule for sending air and international packages "may be affected" by the disruption.
"A contingency plan has been drawn up to help ensure that deliveries arrive at their final destination as soon as possible," UPS continued.
The three-engine plane has been refueling for 8.5 hours of flight to Honolulu. The plane has three crew members. No one survived, officials said.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg told reporters at a late-night press conference that four of the dead had been confirmed on the ground, while 11 people were injured had been taken to hospital.
Separately, the Governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, said the death toll was seven and is expected to increase.
"Some survivors suffered very serious injuries," he said.
It was the first UPS cargo plane to crash since August 2013, when an Airbus plane crashed as it approached an international airport in Birmingham, Alabama, killing its two crew members.
The WLKY television channel, CBS affiliate, broadcasts a video of the crash with fire seen as the plane takes off, and a fireball erupts when it hits the ground.
Several buildings in industrial areas outside the runway caught fire after the accident, with thick black smoke seen rising into the night sky.
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