An airliner, racing down a foggy Milan runway today, collided with a private jet and then ploughed into a building where it burst into flames, killing 118 people.
The Italian Interior Ministry ruled out terrorism and said the accident was most likely the result of "human error" compounded by poor visibility due to heavy fog at Linate airport.
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The remains of the tail end of the crashed airliner
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The SAS airliner, an MD 87 with 104 passengers, six crew members and a tank full of fuel, was accelerating for take-off when it hit the twin jet engine Cessna that had taxied onto the takeoff runway, said Ms Alessandra Tripodi, a spokeswoman at the Milan Prefect's office.
The jetliner swerved off the runway at from the impact and charged into a baggage handling depot, bursting into fire.
The Interior Ministry said the executive jet a Citation II carrying four people, was on the wrong runway.
Transport Minister Mr Pietro Lunardi put the death toll at 114 with four ground workers missing. Fifty-six of the SAS victims were Italians, the rest other nationalities, he told an airport press conference .
"The cause seems for now attributable to human error," he said, refusing to elaborate on who specifically was to blame. He said the investigation was in the hands of a magistrate.
Four of the dead were aboard the smaller Cessna aircraft, which was destroyed by the fire. The two Cessna pilots were German, and the two passengers on the eight-seater plane were Italian businessmen, Mr Lunardi said.
The Cessna had stopped in Milan while en route from Cologne, Germany to Paris.
More than 35 bodies had been pulled from the wreckage, as firefighters worked to contain the blaze, Ms Tripodi said. Access to the fuselage and cabin of the jetliner was made difficult because the plane hit a cement beam as it ploughed into the baggage storage building, causing the roof to collapse.
Rescue crews using a crane lifted the roof off but "the scene is not encouraging in terms of finding survivors," she said.
Thick smoke filled the air around the crash site, and charred pieces of the shattered airliner stuck out of the red and white checked building as firefighters using the airport's mobile staircases tried to board. Fire trucks clustered around the scene and the ground was covered with mounds of white, fire-retardant foam.
The airport was closed until at least midnight.
"I heard three or four booms and a few moments later a crash and then flames dozen of meters high," said an airport worker. He said he was awaiting word of his colleagues, some 20 of whom were believed to have reported for work in the building.
Two of the injured from the baggage depot were taken to Niguarda hospital, and were listed in serious condition, hospital spokesman Savino Bonfanti said.
Pope John Paul II sent his prayers to the families of the victims and Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi sent a letter of condolence to Swedish King Carl Gustaf.
AP