At least 16 people were killed after a United States military transport plane crashed in the Delta region of southern US state of Mississippi region on Monday (July 11) evening, according to officials.
Emergency services have reached the spot and a search operation is underway for survivors.
"A KC-130 military refuelling tanker crashed about 85 miles (135 kilometers) north of state capital Jackson", Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks told the Reuters.
The county sheriff said that a helicopter was searching for possible survivors in the dark near the crash site in a soybean field.
The search operation began more than five hours after the KC-130 refueling tanker crashed.
The incident was reported at around 4 pm local time and the debris from the plabe was reportedly scattered in a radius of about 5 miles (8 kilometers), according to Reuters.
Banks said the jet fuel in the field caused an intense fire in the area, forcing firefighters to resort to unmanned devices to control the flames.
"We were driven away by several high-intensity explosions," he said.
Pictures taken of the crash site show the remains of the plane burning with black smoke visible from miles across the flat landscape of the delta.
According to Austin Jones, who owns a neighbouring farm, the fire continued after sunset.
"It's burning worse now than it was early in the afternoon," said Jones.
No information of the plane has been provided yet.
