Navy jet 'exploded in mid-air'

A villager who saw a military aircraft crash in northeast Hainan said yesterday the plane exploded in mid-air before wreckage rained down on a field of pepper trees.

Fu Tiecun - one of the few in the southern island province to have witnessed the crash - was working in his banana field when it happened. He said he saw one of three aircraft flying overhead suddenly catch fire. The plane hit the ground barely a dozen metres from where he was working.

'There were two explosions - one in mid-air and one on the ground. I felt a great impact and immediately took cover. Fortunately I was not hurt,' the farmer said. There were not many flames but a lot of smoke, he said.

Police arrived shortly afterwards and sealed off the area. They questioned Mr Fu and prevented him leaving Shancongcun village.

The PLA naval aircraft, apparently a two-seater fighter trainer, crashed at about 2pm on Tuesday near the village, outside the town of Nanyang, 20km south of Wenchang .

The crash created a 3-square-metre crater but did not cause any civilian casualties, villagers said. Police said the two pilots were killed. Mr Fu said he saw soldiers digging a man's body out of the wreckage afterwards.

Another villager said scores of soldiers arrived to pick up the remains of the bodies and the plane.