At least three people have died after a cargo plane crashed near an airport in Kentucky.

Police are attending the scene of the accident near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, with images from the scene showing large fires burning and smoke billowing into the air.

Speaking at a news conference, Kentucky governor Andy Beshear described the incident as"catastrophic" and urged local residents to obey any shelter-in-place orders.

"We believe we have at least three fatalities - and I believe that number is going to get larger," he said.

"We have at least 11 injuries, some of which are very significant." Those injured were said to be on the ground.

Mr Beshear added that two employees on the ground are missing after the incident, and that two buildings on the ground were affected.

The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) said the crash happened around 5.15pm local time (10.15pm UK time) as the plane left the airport, bound for Honolulu in Hawaii.

It added that the aircraft was a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 plane, primarily used by cargo airlines.

City mayor Craig Greenberg added that the UPS aircraft was carrying a large amount of fuel.

In a statement on its website, the company said three people were on board the plane at the time of the crash.

Louisville International Airport is also home to UPS Worldport, the delivery firm's largest package handling facility in the world.

The airport said all arriving and departing flights are temporarily suspended, that the airfield is closed, and warned passengers should closely monitor their flights.

Sky's US correspondent David Blevins noted that the incident occurred during the US government shutdown , meaning the budget for paying air traffic controllers has not been finalised.

The failure to reopen the federal government after 35 days has, he said, resulted"in a shortage of staff" and added: "There will be many questions asked in the coming days by the National Transportation Safety Authority about what exactly has gone wrong."