Five killed after Amazon cargo plane crashes at Miami airport
Miami: Five people were killed and five others injured after an Amazon cargo plane overran a runway and crashed at Miami International Airport in the US state of Florida, authorities have said.
The accident occurred at 1:58 p.m. local time (1758 GMT) on Sunday, Miami-Dade County Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz told a press conference.
Five people were hospitalised with injuries, according to Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
Video footage showed thick smoke billowing from the aircraft.
The Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said on X that more than 60 units and approximately 200 firefighters responded to the scene, reports Xinhua news agency.
In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Air Flight 7598 overran the runway after landing at the airport around 2 p.m. Eastern Time (1800 GMT) on Sunday.
The aircraft, a Boeing 767-300 cargo plane, had departed from Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the agency said, adding that an investigation would be carried out.
The aircraft “experienced an incident while attempting to land,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in the FAA statement. “This is a fast-moving situation, and we’re still gathering details.”
Earlier on Saturday, two people were killed and two others injured after a small plane crashed in Fresno, a city in the US state of California, authorities said.
First responders “discovered a fixed-wing single-engine airplane on fire atop the bluff of the San Joaquin River,” the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “Firefighters were able to extinguish the flames and prevent them from spreading onto the properties of nearby homes.”
There were four people on board the plane. Two children were pronounced deceased at the scene and two adults, listed in critical condition, were rushed to the hospital, according to the statement.
The US National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.