MELBOURNE – A small plane carrying five people crashed into a shopping centre near an airport outside Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, on Tuesday and officials said an unknown number of people may have been killed.

“It appears to be a very, very tragic accident that’s occurred out here … that’s potentially caused fatalities,” Victoria state police minister Lisa Neville told Sky News.

The network broadcast pictures showing smoke billowing from the shopping mall near Essendon airport, a small airfield close to Melbourne, and firefighters hosing down the burning wreckage.

Neville said five people were on board the plane, which was a charter flight to King Island in Bass Strait between the Australian mainland and the southern island state of Tasmania.

Police said the plane crashed just before 9 am, about an hour before the Direct Factory Outlet shopping mall was due to open.

“At this stage we do not have information regarding possible casualties,” Victoria state police said in a statement.

Essendon Airport is a small airfield mainly used by light planes. A spokeswoman for Airservices Australia said flights in and out of Melbourne’s main airport were not affected.

– Reuters