Shoreham air crash thought to have killed 20 people

Flowers are placed on the Shoreham Tollbridge that crosses the River Adur near the location where a Hawker Hunter fighter jet crashed on a busy road near Shoreham-by-sea, West Sussex, England, Sunday, August 23, 2015.

Initial reports said seven people were killed in the accident, but police quoted by the BBC said it was “highly likely” that 11 died, although formal identification could not yet be made.

“Andrew Hill remains in critical condition”, police said in a statement released on behalf of Hill’s family.

Matt Jones, 24, and Matthew Grimstone, 23, a soccer player for the Worthing United team, were the first confirmed deaths.

Crashes at British airshows are rare, but in 2007 the pilot of a World War II Hurricane died at the Shoreham Airshow after performing a barrel-roll.

It’s “fairly attainable” that there are nonetheless extra our bodies within the wreckage, Barry stated, including: “That is an enormously traumatic incident”.

Warning that the death toll could rise further still, he said investigators are keeping “an open mind” about who has been involved in the crash as they continue to receive calls from anxious friends and relatives.

“The scene itself is extremely giant”, Barry stated, in accordance with. What that will uncover in terms of further recovery work is unknown and it’s possible that once the aircraft is moved that we will discover more fatalities.

The A27 is expected be closed for several days for the investigation to take place and wreckage to be removed.

The plane failed to pull out of a large loop at around 1:20p.m. It hit the nearby A27 road, erupting into a fireball and leaving cars burned out and heavily damaged.

And people have held a minute’s silence for the people who died at a service at St Mary de Haura Church in Shoreham.

Hawker Hunter planes were a mainstay of Britain’s Royal Air Force in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Both police and the AAIB have urged anyone with photos or footage of the crash to contact them as it may help with the investigation.

“We immediately commenced our review processes and remain committed to continuously enhancing the safety of all civil aviation”, a spokesman said.