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The left engine came off a doomed United Parcel Service Inc. freighter moments before it crashed in a fireball near the company’s global hub in Kentucky, killing at least 12 people.

Others were injured when the plane exploded during takeoff near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A day after a UPS cargo plane caught fire, crashed and exploded in Kentucky, people are retelling their eyewitness accounts to the crash that killed at least 12, including a child, and left others missing. Sobit Aliyev, co-owner of Kentucky Truck Parts & Service, said he fled his business as fire began closing in on him.

A state of emergency has been declared for Kentucky by Governor Andy Beshear Wednesday following a deadly UPS plane crash in Louisville Tuesday night. Beshear said that nine people are dead and at least 15 people are injured. An additional 16 people are still unaccounted for after the incident.

UPS said on Wednesday it would reopen its sprawling air cargo hub in Louisville, Kentucky, after temporarily shuttering it a day earlier due to a deadly plane crash, a move that will begin easing delays in the delivery firm's global network.

After being cleared for takeoff on Tuesday, a large fire developed in the left wing, said Todd Inman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation.

Two businesses were directly affected by the UPS plane crash Nov. 4: Kentucky Petroleum Recycling and Grade A Auto Parts.