Plane carrying five people crashes into side of shopping centre in Melbourne

Sydney [Australia], Feb. 21 : A plane with five people on board has crashed into the side of a shopping centre near Essendon Airport, in Melbourne's north, sparking a fire at the centre.

A State Government spokesperson said that a Beechcraft five-person charter flight to King Island crashed soon after take-off at 9:00am, reports the ABC online It is not known if there are any fatalities or injuries as of now.

Witnesses told ABC News 24 the aircraft was flying precariously close to houses before the incident, which happened under cloudless skies in seemingly good conditions.

The Guardian also reported that a plane has crashed into a shopping centre near Essendon airport in Melbourne.

The light aircraft crashed into the DFO shopping centre at Essendon and exploded about 9am on Tuesday.

Source: ANI