Five killed as Amazon cargo plane overshoots runway at Miami International Airport

At least five people were killed when an Amazon cargo plane overshot a runway after it landed Sunday at Miami International Airport, crashed into vehicles and caught fire, officials said.

Miami-Dade County fire chief Ray Jadallah told reporters that in addition to five fatalities, three people were transported to trauma centres "in critical condition" and two more were treated at a local hospital.

"The airplane did strike a couple of vehicles," which left "a couple of victims that were actually trapped in the vehicles," Jadallah said.

"A complex extrication with our technical rescue team" was needed, "including a search and rescue of the pilot and co-pilot that were trapped in this aircraft."

Jadallah did not clarify whether the pilot or co-pilot survived, and officials declined to answer questions after brief statements were made.

Video showed thick smoke billowing from the blue and white Boeing 767 that had arrived around 2 pm (1800 GMT) from Puerto Rico, as fire trucks raced to the scene.

The plane operating as Prime Air Flight 7598 caught fire as a result of the "crash," fire officials said.

"A total of 60 fire apparatuses arrived, just short, just shy of 200 men and women from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, to begin the actual search and rescue and firefighting," Jadallah said.

"The actual cause of the incident will be determined by the FAA and the NTSB," he added, referring to the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.

The NTSB said in an X post on Sunday the B-767-300 cargo airplane was flying into Miami from San Juan, Puerto Rico and they have "launched a go team to investigate Sunday's runway excursion accident."

The airport closed all runways and taxiways because of the incident and posted an update to its website Sunday evening that travelers should check directly with their airline before heading to the airport.

Amazon put out a statement saying the aircraft "experienced an incident while attempting to land." It did not say if anyone was hurt or killed.

"This is a fast-moving situation and we're still gathering details. We're working closely with local authorities and officials to understand exactly what happened," Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in the statement.