At least three persons were killed after a small plane crashed into a row of townhouses on Saturday morning in a neighbourhood east of Portland, Oregon, US. The crash set the homes on fire, creating panic among residents.
Three people were dead after a small plane crashed into a row of townhouses Saturday morning, authorities told KATU-TV.
Officials earlier in the day had said the plane was carrying two people and that at least one resident had been unaccounted for.
I couldn't yet say if there were any fatalities, noting that fire crews were working around major structural damage to the townhomes as a result of the crash, said Gresham Fire Chief Scott Lewis.
Videos surfaced from the spot showed that one of the townhomes was engulfed in flames while black smoke poured out of the adjoining houses.
The fire spread to at least four of the homes, displacing up to six families. Two people were treated at the scene, but he didn't describe the type or severity of injuries.
Crashed plane was twin-engine Cessna 421C
The Federal Aviation Administration identified the aircraft as a twin-engine Cessna 421C, which it says went down around 10:30 am near Troutdale Airport, about a 30-minute drive east of Portland.
Plane was split into multiple parts
As the plane went down, it knocked over a pole and power lines, causing a separate brush fire in a nearby field, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. The plane was split into multiple parts as it crashed in the residential area in the city of Fairview, which is home to about 10,000 people.
Lewis said the first call about the fire came from staff at the Troutdale Airport's control tower, who saw a thick plume of smoke rising in the air.
But Lewis said that initial reports indicated “there was no mayday, no call for emergency” from the aircraft itself before it crashed.
The website for the Port of Portland, which oversees general aviation and marine operations in the Portland area, describes Troutdale Airport as a “flight training and recreational airport".
(With AP inputs)
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