The death toll from the UPS cargo plane crash in Louisville, Kentucky, has risen to 13, officials said Thursday.
"On my way to the Teamsters' vigil, I learned of a 13th person that died as a result of the UPS flight 2976 plane crash," Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg wrote in a social media post. "My heart is with the families, friends and colleagues of all who were lost in this week's tragedy. We will get through this together."
None of the crash victims have been positively identified by the local coroner yet, National Transportation Safety Board officials said during a news briefing Thursday afternoon. Earlier Thursday, Greenberg said nine people were still unaccounted for following the crash.
On Wednesday, the University of Louisville Hospital said two of 15 people who were brought to the hospital for treatment following the incident were in critical condition. It was unclear if the latest victim was one of those who had been hospitalized, or whether their remains were located by search crews at the crash site. CBS News has reached out to the mayor's office for clarification.
The deceased are believed to include the three people aboard the plane, who were identified Thursday by UPS as Capt. Richard Wartenberg, First Officer Lee Truitt and International Relief Officer Capt. Dana Diamond.
"Words can't express the sorrow we feel over the heartbreaking Flight 2976 accident," Nando Cesarone, UPS executive vice president, said in a statement.
An undated photo of Capt. Dana Diamond.
Independent Pilots Association
An undated photo of Capt. Richard Wartenberg.
Independent Pilots Association
An undated photo of First Officer Lee Truitt.
Independent Pilots Association
The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 Freighter had been cleared for takeoff on Tuesday from UPS Worldport, the company's global aviation hub at Louisville International Airport, when a large fire developed in the left wing and an engine fell off, said Todd Inman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation.
The ensuing crash and inferno destroyed the enormous cargo hauler and spread to nearby businesses, causing even more blasts and destruction in an industrial corridor just outside the airport.
Greenberg described the crash site as "horrific," with "charred, mangled metal." Part of the plane's tail, he said, appeared to be sticking out of a storage silo.
"You hear people say, 'Oh, you only see that in the movies.' This was worse than the movies," Greenberg told reporters.
Meanwhile, UPS Worldport operations resumed Wednesday night with its Next Day Air, or night sort, operation, spokesperson Jim Mayer said.
"Our goal is to begin returning the network to a normal cadence," Mayer said.
Teamsters Local 89, which represents UPS workers, scheduled a late afternoon public vigil on Thursday. The mayor encouraged the public to attend, calling it an opportunity to "share our heartbreak" and "find strength to keep moving forward."
The UPS package handling facility in Louisville is the company's largest. The hub employs more than 20,000 people in the region, handles 300 flights daily and sorts more than 400,000 packages an hour.
The latest on the crash investigation
The plane's last data recordings showed it had reached an altitude of 475 feet and a speed of 210 mph before crashing, Inman said Thursday.
The engine's main component and pieces of engine fan blades were recovered from the airfield.
Inman said UPS indicated that no maintenance work was performed before the flight "that would delay it in any way." He noted that investigators will look at video to see what, if anything, was being done around the MD-11 aircraft in the preceding days.
Flight records show the UPS plane was on the ground in San Antonio from Sept. 3 to Oct. 18, but it was unclear what maintenance was performed.
"We will look at every piece of maintenance done, from the San Antonio time all the way to the date of the flight. ... It's going to be a laborious process," Inman said.
He said there was no reason to take any immediate safety actions against other MD-11 planes in service.
