An Afghan man who crashed a stolen vehicle on to the runway at Camp Bastion as US defence secretary Leon Panetta arrived there has died of his injuries.The man died of severe burns, said Lieutenant General Curtis Scaparotti, deputy commander of American forces in Afghanistan.
He said the driver apparently had a container of fuel in the vehicle, which ignited during the crash at the airfield at Britain's biggest base in Afghanistan. The base is home to a large contingent of US troops as well as UK forces.
Lt Gen Scaparotti said the driver had been heading towards a group of marines. He travelled at high speed and crashed into a ditch near the ramp where Mr Panetta's plane was going to park. No one in the defence secretary's party was hurt.
The crash at Camp Bastion is believed to be linked to an earlier incident, which left a British serviceman with minor injuries.
The driver, a local man employed at the base, was treated at the base's hospital for his injuries but died this morning.