Four people were feared dead last night after a 747 cargo jet crashed shortly after taking off from Stansted Airport in Essex.
Rescue services said they had recovered three bodies. They had succeeded in extinguishing the burning wreckage and were working to retrieve the other body.
"There was four persons on board. It is not believed that any of them survived," a police spokesman said.
The four were all men and from Korea, a Korean Air spokeswoman in the United States was quoted as saying.
Police said they were unsure what the plane was carrying but played down reports that it was carrying toxic material or low-grade explosives.
"If there were low-grade explosives, they would have been burnt out in the fire," Assistant Chief Constable Charles Clark told a news conference.
Air Accident Investigation Branch officials have recovered one of the two flight recorders from the jet.
The Korean Air jet had been bound for Malpensa Airport in Milan when it crashed moments after take-off at 6.40 p.m.
Stansted's largest scheduled airline is Ryanair, while other prominent carriers are KLM uk and the German carrier, Lufthansa.
Horrified drivers on the M11 saw a giant fireball shoot into the sky when the aircraft plummeted into fields close to the busy motorway.
Homes in the Hatfield Forest area were believed to have escaped damage, although the accident had taken out power lines, leaving many people in darkness.
Six vehicles were initially sent to the scene and many more followed when the accident was confirmed, he said.
But just three ambulances remained after airport officials and firefighters confirmed only the crew members were on board, he said.
Local people reported seeing flames 500ft-600ft high light up the sky just moments after the plane took off.
Mr Andrew Smith, who lives near the scene of the accident, said: "There was a large fireball and a massive explosion. My whole house shook.
Mr Smith said the plane came down in a field about a mile south of Stansted.
"I went out of the house and saw that the field where the plane had come down was just ablaze."
Another witness, Mr Neil Foster, was driving down the M11 when he saw an explosion.
"The sky was illuminated by a huge fireball.
"Lots of small debris was falling onto the roads and the areas nearby."
The airport was closed last night and flights were suspended.
A Stansted spokeswoman said officials had no idea when normal service would resume. "It's standard procedure following an incident like this for the airport to close," she said.
"We are awaiting further information and are in the hands of the police at the moment.
"We are advising passengers to contact their airlines for information about flights.
"Incoming flights are being diverted to other airports in the UK."
Passengers at the airport were being kept updated by a tannoy announcer who told them that the disruption was caused by a "local incident".
Up to 700 passengers, due to fly to Ireland for Christmas, were still stranded at Stansted Airport early this morning and unsure of when they might be flying home because of the closure of the airport.
Ms Cliona O'Sullivan, who contacted The Irish Times from the airport shortly after 1 a.m. today, said several of those waiting had babies and young children with them. Many had been waiting for several hours.
She added that while a Ryanair duty manager had informed them that three flights had been laid on from Gatwick and three others from Luton no indication had been given about when these flights might depart.
Passengers due to fly to Stansted from Dublin and Cork also were disrupted by the airport closure.
Ryanair in a statement said it regretted the disruption caused.