Five die as plane crashes into Melbourne shopping centre

A light aircraft smashed into shops and exploded into a "massive fireball" killing all five on board, including four American passengers reportedly golfers on the trip of a lifetime, officials in Australia said Tuesday. The twin-engined Beechcraft plane veered just after take-off into a shopping centre, that was still closed, next to Essendon Fields airport near Melbourne.
The private charter from Essendon, north of Melbourne, to King Island, 55 minutes to the south, came down just short of a major motorway packed with the heavy traffic of early morning commuters.