Essendon crash: Five killed as plane plunges into shopping centre near Melbourne's Essendon Airport

Updated

Five people have died as a result of Victoria's worst civil aviation accident in 30 years, after a plane crashed into a shopping centre near Melbourne's Essendon Airport. Victoria’s police minister has confirmed there were five people on board the plane.S

Victoria police superintendent Mick Frewan said at a press conference on Tuesday that police had not been able to confirm any fatalities and did not know how many people may have been in the shopping centre when the crash occurred. The explosion sent one of the aircraft wheels on to the adjacent Tullamarine Freeway, Fairfax Radio has reported, and police have closed the Tullamarine and Calder Freeways as a plume of black smoke covers the area. Key points: A charter plane crashed into the back of shops, killing all five people on board

Workers were in the building at the time, but all are believed to have survived

Witnesses saw the plane flying "fast and low" before the crash

Witnesses described seeing the plane, identified as a Beechcraft B200 Super King Air, erupt into a "massive fireball" after it smashed into the DFO centre just after 9:00am on Tuesday.
A charter plane crashes into a Direct Factory Outlets shopping centre in Melbourne, Australia, shortly after taking off from Essendon Airport, killing the five people on board.