A United Parcel Service (UPS) wide-body cargo plane crashed and erupted into a fireball shortly after takeoff on Tuesday from the international airport in Louisville, Kentucky, killing seven people, including all three aboard the aircraft, and injuring 11 others on the ground, officials said.

Flames from the crash, which occurred shortly before sundown, ignited a string of fires on the ground in an industrial corridor adjacent to the airport, forcing authorities to halt airport operations through the night, according to officials.

The Louisville airport, which is home to UPS Worldport – a global hub for the shipping company's air cargo operations and its largest package-handling facility worldwide – was expected to reopen on Wednesday morning. Debris from the crash was left strewn across two runways.

UPS said in a Tuesday night service alert that its scheduled delivery times for airborne and international packages "may be affected" by the disruption.

"Contingency plans are in place to help ensure that shipments arrive at their final destinations as quickly as conditions permit," the company said.

The triple-engine plane was fueled for an 8-1/2 hour flight to Honolulu. The aircraft carried a crew of three, according to UPS. Officials later said none had survived.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg told reporters at a late-night news briefing that four fatalities were confirmed on the ground, and 11 other people who were injured had been taken to hospitals.

Separately, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said the overall number of lives lost was at least seven, with the death toll expected to rise. He said earlier that some of the survivors had suffered "very significant" injuries.

Television channel WLKY, a CBS affiliate, showed video of the crash as it occurred. Fire on one wing was visible in the video as the plane took off, and a fireball erupted as it hit the ground. Several buildings in an industrial area beyond the runway were on fire after the crash, with thick black smoke rising into the evening sky.

"UPS Flight 2976 crashed around 5:15 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Nov. 4, after departing from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky," the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

One key question investigators will look at is why one engine appeared to have separated from the plane before the crash, a person briefed on the matter said, noting video reports of debris on the airfield. The cause of the fire was also unknown.

U.S. air safety expert and pilot John Cox said investigators will need to look at why the plane with three engines failed to fly after the first one caught fire.

"It's too big a fire for a normal, typical-engine fire," Cox said. "It's much too big."

"That airplane should have flown on two engines. So now we've got to look at what caused it not to fly," he added.

Fires were still burning near the airport, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said in a social media post shortly before 7 p.m. ET (0000 GMT).

Officials issued a shelter-in-place order for all locations within 5 miles (8 km) of the airport.

Government shutdown

The crash comes amid one of the longest government shutdowns in U.S. history, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warning of "mass chaos" earlier Tuesday due to a lack of air traffic control staff.

"You'll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don't have the air traffic controllers," Duffy told reporters.

In a statement on X, Duffy called footage of the crash "heartbreaking," adding: "Please join me in prayer for the Louisville community and flight crew impacted by this horrific crash."

In January, an American Eagle airliner hit a military Black Hawk outside Washington's Ronald Reagan airport, killing 67 people.

That crash, which ended the United States' 16-year streak of no fatal commercial air crashes, has added to concerns about the U.S. air traffic control system, which some regard as an understaffed operation beset by problems with old equipment.

(With input from Reuters, AFP)