Several dead as plane crashes into Melbourne shopping centre


Firemen putting out a blaze after a light aircraft exploded as it crashed into a shopping centre near Melbourne on Feb 21, 2017. – AFP

MELBOURNE: Several people died aboard a light aircraft that smashed into a shopping centre near the Australian city of Melbourne, the state premier said.

"A number of people have died as a result of what is the worst civil aviation accident that our state has seen for 30 years," Victoria  premier Daniel Andrews said.

The Beechcraft private charter veered just after take-off into the shopping centre, that had yet to open, next to Essendon Fields airport, just north of Melbourne. - AFP

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