UK airshow crash death toll likely to rise to 11

British police say the death toll from an airshow crash is “highly likely” to increase to 11 people after a fighter jet slammed into a busy main road.

The Hawker Hunter single-seater fighter jet, which was participating in the Shoreham Airshow near Brighton in southern England, hit several vehicles on a nearby road as it crashed Saturday afternoon. Video showed the jet soar, loop and then plunge before it could complete a second loop. It crashed into a busy road, the A27, near the airfield where the show took place.

The initial death toll was seven.

Assistant Chief Constable Steve Barry of Sussex Police said officials were removing bodies from the scene Sunday, and more fatalities may be discovered.

The pilot remained in critical condition in the hospital, and a crane will remove the jet wreckage on Monday.

Beyond the fatalities, one person was seriously hurt and 14 others had minor injuries, according to a statement from the Sussex Police.

“The casualties are all believed to have occurred on the road at this time and there are not thought to be any injuries to anyone actually on the airfield,” the statement said.

The jet was a Hawker Hunter, a staple of the Royal Air Force during the Cold War.

A witness, Stephen Jones, offered an account of the crash to the BBC: “He’d gone up into a loop, and as he was coming out of the loop I just thought, you’re too low, you’re too low, pull up.”

He added, “He flew straight into the ground either on or very close to the A27, which runs past the airport.”

A large fireball engulfed a portion of the road.

The airshow is sponsored by the Royal Air Forces Association, a charity that aids service members and veterans.

The crash was the second at the airshow in recent years. In 2007, Brian Brown, a stuntman who had performed aerial stunts in movies including the James Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies,” was killed when the World War II fighter plane he was flying crashed during the show.

This story was originally published August 22, 2015 at 9:38 AM with the headline "UK airshow crash death toll likely to rise to 11."