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No survivors in Melbourne plane crash, police say

All people aboard a five-seater charter plane are
believed to have been killed when it crashed near an airport in the Australian city of Melbourne today, police said.

"(There were) five on the aircraft and it looks like no-one has survived the crash," Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane said, according to broadcaster ABC.

"At this stage, the advice we have is there are no fatalities other than on the aircraft itself.

"At this very moment we have people speaking with relatives, so... we are not prepared to release details... until we've had an opportunity to speak to relatives," Leane said.

Earlier today, it was reported that a five-passenger charter plane crashed into a building next to Essendon Airport in Melbourne, with witnesses reporting explosions, fire and black smoke, police said.

Emergency services are responding to a plane crash into a building near Bulla Road in Essendon Fields, Victoria Police said.

"At this stage we do not have information regarding possible casualties. Police currently evacuating area. Please avoid the area," police said on their Twitter page.

"There (are) constant explosions going off, there is black smoke billowing into the sky," one witness told local 3AW radio.

Another witness, Jason, told local ABC radio: "I saw this plane coming in really low and fast. It went just behind the barriers so I couldn't see the impact but when it hit the building there was a massive fireball."

"I could feel the heat through the window of the taxi, and then a wheel, it looked like a plane wheel, bounced on the road and hit the front of the taxi as we were driving along."

The nearby Tullamarine and Calder highways are closed, with firefighters and emergency workers at the crash scene.

- dpa

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