Several die as plane crashes in Australia

A police officer works at the crash site of a Turkish cargo plane in the village of Dacha-Suu outside Bishkek on January 16, 2017. A Turkish cargo plane crashed into a village near Kyrgyzstan's main airport Monday, killing 32 people and destroying homes after attempting to land in thick fog, authorities said. / AFP PHOTO / Vyacheslav OSELEDKO
File photo of a crash site. AFP

MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Several people died aboard a light aircraft that smashed into a shopping center near the Australian city of Melbourne, the state premier said.

“A number of people have died as a result of what is the worst civil aviation accident that our state has seen for 30 years,” Victoria  premier Daniel Andrews said.

The Beechcraft private charter veered just after take-off into the shopping center, which had yet to open, next to Essendon Fields airport, just north of Melbourne.