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Three killed in plane crash

Authorities stand by the wreckage of a twin-engine plane after the plane crashed and burned on a residential street in Fort Collins, Colo., Saturday. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
Authorities stand by the wreckage of a twin-engine plane after the plane crashed and burned on a residential street in Fort Collins, Colo., Saturday. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – A twin-engine plane crashed onto a residential street Saturday, killing all three men aboard, destroying a minivan and setting off several small explosions.

Fort Collins police spokeswoman Rita Davis said the plane didn’t hit any homes and no one on the ground was injured.

Residents within a quarter of a mile were evacuated for about five hours as firefighters cleaned up about 100 gallons of fuel that had spilled from the wreckage.

Residents reported the explosions after the fuel leaked into the storm drainage system and the plane caught fire, Davis said in a statement.

Aside from the minivan, no additional damage was immediately reported in the community 65 miles north of Denver.

Witnesses said the plane seemed to be having engine trouble before it crashed about noon.

“It fell straight out of the sky. It hit the ground and there were parts and gas everywhere,” resident James Noren told the Coloradoan newspaper of Fort Collins.

FAA spokeswoman Nancy Corey said the plane was a Beechcraft 58. It had left the Fort Collins/Loveland Airport and was headed to Omaha, Neb.