At least three people were killed on Saturday morning when a small plane crashed into a row of terraced houses in a neighborhood east of Portland, Oregon (USA). The accident caused a fire in the houses and caused panic among residents.
Three people were killed after a small plane crashed into a row of townhouses Saturday morning, authorities told KATU-TV.
Authorities had said earlier in the day that the plane was carrying two people and that at least one resident was missing.
“I can’t say yet if there were any fatalities, but fire crews were working around significant structural damage to the townhomes as a result of the accident,” Gresham Fire Chief Scott Lewis said.
Videos from the scene showed one of the townhouses engulfed in flames as black smoke billowed from adjacent homes.
The fire spread to at least four of the houses, forcing six families to evacuate. Two people were treated at the scene, but the type and severity of their injuries were not described.
The crashed aircraft was a twin-engine Cessna 421C
The Federal Aviation Administration identified the aircraft as a twin-engine Cessna 421C, which it says crashed around 10:30 a.m. near Troutdale Airport, about a 30-minute drive east of Portland.
The plane broke into several parts.
According to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, when the plane went down, it knocked down a pole and power lines, sparking another wildfire in a nearby field. The plane broke into several pieces when it crashed in the residential area of the town of Fairview, home to about 10,000 people.
Lewis said the first call about the fire came from control tower personnel at Troutdale Airport, who saw a thick plume of smoke rising into the air.
But Lewis said initial reports indicated there was “no distress signal, no emergency call” from the plane itself before it crashed.
The website of the Port of Portland, which oversees general aviation and maritime operations in the Portland area, describes Troutdale Airport as a “flight training and recreation airport.”
(With AP inputs)
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