Five dead after Amazon cargo aircraft crashes at Miami airport

Five people were killed and five others injured after an Amazon cargo aircraft overran a runway and crashed at Miami International Airport in Florida, authorities said.

The accident occurred at approximately 1.58 pm local time on Sunday, according to Miami-Dade County Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz. Miami-Dade County mayor Daniella Levine Cava said five injured people had been taken to hospital.

Footage from the scene showed thick smoke rising from the aircraft. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said more than 60 units and around 200 firefighters were deployed in response to the crash.

The US Federal Aviation Administration said Flight 7598 went beyond the runway after landing at the airport at around 2 pm Eastern Time. The Boeing 767-300 cargo aircraft had arrived from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The FAA said it would investigate the accident.

An Amazon spokesperson, Kelly Nantel, said the aircraft had been involved in an incident while attempting to land, adding that the company was still gathering information as the situation continued to develop.

The Miami crash came a day after a separate aviation accident in Fresno, California, killed two children and critically injured two adults.

The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said emergency personnel found a single-engine aircraft in flames on a bluff overlooking the San Joaquin River. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and prevented it from spreading to nearby residential properties.

Four people were aboard the aircraft. The two children were pronounced dead at the scene, while the adults were taken to hospital in critical condition. The US National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of that crash.

With IANS inputs