A small plane crashed into a San Diego neighbourhood in the US state of California, killing several people, according to media reports.
The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said on Thursday the private jet crashed into a military housing unit, striking about 15 homes, setting ablaze multiple homes and cars. "I just walked it myself, and down the street itself, it looks like something from a movie," said assistant fire chief Dan Eddy.
Forrest Gallagher, who lives in the area, told NBC News that he heard a “loud boom” that woke him up out of sleep. “I went outside to my neighbours out in the street and smelt a weird burning smell, like rubber, plastic smell,” said Gallagher. “I went outside to investigate and that’s when I saw the car on fire.”
The plane crashed less than two minutes after takeoff from Fullerton Municipal Airport in Orange County, just 10 kilometres from Disneyland, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware.
Eddy told reporters that more than one person was killed, although he did not have a full count. He said the plane could have sat eight to 10 people, including the pilot, but officials did not know how many people were on the plane when it crashed.
Eddy, however, confirmed that all of the fatalities were among the plane’s passengers and no one from the neighbourhood was killed. “We do believe we have multiple fatalities, but we’re going to have to go through and take our time and ensure that’s exactly what we have," said Eddy.
Fire officials said multiple neighbourhoods in the area were evacuated due to fuel spills caused by the crash. “We have jet fuel all over the place,” Eddy told reporters. “We have hazmat on scene right now, and we’ve asked for more resources to come for that.”
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl described the crash site to reporters, saying that there was “jet fuel going down the street and everything on fire all at once.”
“It was pretty horrific to see,” said Wahl.
