Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said 11 people have also been injured and the number of casualties is likely to increase.

At least three people were killed when a large, wide-body UPS cargo plane crashed while taking off from an airport in Louisville, Kentucky, igniting an enormous fire and causing “multiple injuries” on the ground, authorities said.

UPS Flight 2976 crashed at about 5:15pm local time (22:15 GMT) on Tuesday as it was departing from Louisville’s Muhammad Ali airport, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.

UPS said in an initial statement that three crew members were on board the aircraft, but provided no information as to any casualties or injuries.

“Right now, we believe we have at least three fatalities, and I believe that number is going to get larger,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said at a news conference.

“We have at least 11 injuries, some of them very significant, that are being treated by local hospitals. Again, I think that number will get larger,” Beshear said.

Beshear said that the National Transportation Safety Board will launch an investigation into the crash, assisted by the FAA.

Aerial footage of the crash site showed a long trail of debris as firefighters blasted water onto a huge fire, with smoke billowing from the disaster area.

Beshear said the plane crashed directly into two local businesses – a petroleum recycling company and an auto parts company.

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Louisville Metro Police Department said in a post on social media that a “shelter-in-place” notice was issued for all locations within an 8km (5-mile) radius of the airport.

“We have every emergency agency responding to the scene. There are multiple injuries and the fire is still burning,” Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said in a post on social media.

“There are many road closures in the area – please avoid the scene,” Greenberg said, describing the crash as “an incredible tragedy” for the local community.

The Louisville airport is home to UPS Worldport, a global hub for the firm’s air cargo operations, which is reported to be the largest package handling facility in the world, with thousands of employees and some 300 cargo flights scheduled each day.

The FAA said the stricken plane was a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 that was departing Louisville for Honolulu, Hawaii.

Aircraft tracking site FlightRadar24 said the plane had flown from Louisville to Baltimore earlier on Tuesday before returning to Louisville.

The Louisville airport said the airfield was closed after the incident.

The Reuters news agency said the accident will likely disrupt UPS deliveries, and its major customers, including Amazon, Walmart and the United States Postal Service.