By Jacki Thrapp

Smoke billowed through the air over the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky early Wednesday morning after a UPS cargo plane crash killed at least seven people and injured eleven during takeoff on Nov. 4.

Kentucky emergency crews nearly contained the fire by 10:30 p.m. ET as they actively searched the scene for victims overnight.

“Please know that we’re working through the night to get these families desperate for information as quick as possible,” Louisville Mayor Greenberg shared just before midnight in an X post.

A shelter-in-place order for within a 1-mile radius of the airport remained in effect in the early morning hours of Wednesday, according to Louisville Emergency Services.

This photo provided by Brad Harvey shows thick, black smoke rising after reports of a plane crash near Louisville International Airport in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 4, 2025. Brad Harvey via AP

Jefferson County Public Schools will be closed on Wednesday due to the shelter-in-place.

UPS Flight 2976 from Louisville to Honolulu crashed at approximately 5:20 p.m. ET on Tuesday, the global shipping company confirmed in an email to The Epoch Times.

UPS Communications confirmed that an “MD-11 with three crewmembers onboard” was involved in the crash.

The company would not confirm if the UPS workers were any of the seven fatalities reported.

The names of the victims have not been released at this time.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the family-owned Kentucky Petroleum Recycling, a liquid waste facility, seemed to have been “hit pretty directly,” and a nearby auto parts operation, Grade A Auto Parts, was also impacted by the crash.

The incident did not damage Stooges Bar & Grill, a well-known family business located feet away from the other impacted businesses.

“The whole place shook and was evacuated immediately,” an employee who works at Stooges Bar & Grill’s sister bar, O’Dolly’s Lounge & Restaurant, told The Epoch Times.

The employee confirmed that nobody inside the restaurant was injured and the flames never reached the exterior.

City officials warn that debris may be found nearby and are urging people to “not touch or move” any debris and report it through a public portal.

Several white mailer bags, bent aluminum with burn marks, and numbered tags were found in an industrial center located nearly half a mile away from Grade A Auto Parts.

Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport is expected to reopen Wednesday at 6 a.m. CST, according to the FAA.

“Any traveler scheduled to depart from or arrive to the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) tomorrow, November 5, should closely monitor their flight status as delays and cancellations are likely following today’s aircraft incident involving UPS flight no. 2976,” the airport announced just before midnight. “The airfield is expected to be available for passenger and cargo operations tomorrow.”

Louisville is home to UPS’s largest package handling facility in the world, with 20,000 staffers and 300 daily flights. It can sort more than 400,000 packages an hour.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash. A press conference is expected on Wednesday morning.