Nine people are dead and many remain injured after Friday’s plane crash at the Reno Air Races, police officials said at a press conference today.

Deputy Chief of the Reno Police Department Dave Evans said 17 people are still being treated at local hospitals, and that 24 have been treated and released.

The remarks came Saturday afternoon in a maintenance building at the Reno-Stead Airport, where the National Transportation Safety Board, the agency manning the investigation, created a makeshift conference room for the media.

NTSB Board Member Mark Rosekind said at the meeting that his group is concerned primarily with gathering facts at this point and are speaking with those involved directly in the event. According to Rosekind, it could take between six to nine months to know the specifics of yesterday’s accident.

Factors contributing to the NTSB investigation include the multimedia dispersed on the Internet yesterday, as well as the pilot’s age and the plane’s condition, Rosekind said.

“I really want to emphasize that this is just the beginning of this accident investigation,” Rosekind said.

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Forty to 50 injuries are reported after an airplane crash at the Reno Air Races earlier today, according to event officials.

At about 4:20 p.m., a World War II-era plane named “Galloping Ghost” veered into the box seat area of the spectator stands at the Reno Air Races event in Stead, Reno Air Races Association President and CEO Michael Houghton said.

The incident is labeled as a “mass casualty” situation, meaning those injured are being transported to every hospital in the area, Houghton said.