Ostend - A Frenchman and his baby daughter were among eight who died when a stunt plane crashed in a ball of fire at a weekend air show at Ostend, Belgium, authorities said yesterday. The other fatalities were five Belgian spectators and the 28-year-old Jordanian pilot of the aircraft. The aircraft smashed into the ground around 100 metres from the public grandstand at the show, narrowly missing several airliners lined up alongside the runway.
A further 55 people were injured in the crash, 10 of them seriously. Thirty-seven people were still in hospital yesterday, though none were on the critical list, police said. Those injured had been struck by flying debris or suffered burns as the aircraft spewed out a deadly shower of kerosene on impact. The German authorities banned air shows following a disaster at Ramstein in 1988 in which 70 people died. It is not known whether Belgium will ponder similar measures, but an air show in the southern town of Hechtel went ahead yesterday as scheduled despite the previous day's crash. - (AFP)