RICHMOND, British Columbia, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Emergency crews said they responded to a twin-engine airplane crash in Canada near the Vancouver International Airport that injured 11 people.
The plane, bound for Kelowna, British Columbia, crashed Thursday afternoon near a runway at the airport in Richmond, B.C., Postmedia News reported.
Anna Marie D'Angelo of Vancouver Coastal Health said the six injured in the crash were immediately transported by ambulance to Vancouver General Hospital where three are in stable condition and three are in critical condition with injuries including burns, fractures and back injuries. Another three people were taken to another hospital in stable conditions, while one person was treated at the scene of the incident.
Another person was "struck by an object," and taken to a hospital, but D'Angelo said it was unclear whether that person was aboard the plane.
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"Amazing. It was amazing anyone survived," said B.C. Ambulance Service Metro Vancouver district supervisor Terry McBratney.
Bill Yearwood, regional manager of the Federal Transportation Safety Board, said the plane departed from the Vancouver airport, but returned after reporting a problem and "crashed on the road just short of the runway."
The "initial information suggests the problem was not one that caused them to declare an emergency," Yearwood said.
"We'll try to get all of the pieces together and get all of the facts," said Mike Harris, operations manager for Northern Thunderbird, the company operating the plane.
The Vancouver Airport Authority launched its emergency management after the crash.
"[The plane] is in pieces, but the fuselage is intact. ... There were wings very near by. It's definitely very much intact," Richmond Fire Rescue Chief John McGowan said.
