REMSCHEID, West Germany -- An Air Force A-10 jet crashed Thursday, killing an undetermined number of people and setting houses on fire, U.S. and West German officials said.
There was no immediate word on the fate of the pilot.
Witnesses quoted by the domestic news agency DPA said three people were killed but police said the death toll was undetermined.
Police said the ground attack jet crashed into the heart of downtown Remscheid, about 40 miles north of the capital of Bonn, destroying six houses and setting others on fire.
Firemen, police and ambulances rushed to the scene, police said.
A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jim Cudla, said the jet was stationed at a Royal Air Force base in England.
More than 20 NATO airplanes have crashed in West Germany this year, including three Italian stunt planes that crashed into spectators at an air show at the U.S. air base at Ramstein Aug. 28.
Seventy people were killed in that crash, which triggered an outcry of public opinion against Allied military aircraft flying in West Germany.
