Three dead after water tanker plane crashes while fighting Australia bushfires

• Today's deaths take the toll from hundreds of wildfires in Australia to 32 since September.

Three people died on Thursday after a water tanker plane tackling Australia's bushfires crashed southwest of Sydney.

According to Sky News, all three members of the Canadian-owned C-130 Hercules plane's crew, who were American residents, were killed when it went down in Australia's alpine region. Officials lost contact with the plane and its crew shortly before 13:30 local time (02:30 GMT) on Thursday.

The Rural Fire Services Commissioner for New South Wales state Shane Fitzsimmons, said that th plane was on a firebombing mission and was carrying a load of retardant. "The tanker impacted heavily with the ground and initial reports are that there was a large fireball associated with the impact of the plane as it hit the ground. There is no indication at this stage of what’s caused the accident,” Fitzsimmons said.

Today's deaths take the toll from hundreds of wildfires in Australia to 32 since September.