Six Americans Among Dead in Air Show Crash

Six Americans were among those killed in Sunday’s air show disaster, the Pentagon said Tuesday, as West German authorities raised the official death toll to 49.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Dan Howard said that, of the six Americans, two were active-duty military personnel, three were dependents and one’s status is unknown.

Two days after Sunday’s disaster at the U.S. Air Base in Ramstein--in which three Italian jets collided, with one careening into spectators--there were still conflicting reports on the total number of dead.

Late Tuesday, West German officials increased the toll to 49, saying two of the injured died during the day. They said they have identified 14 of the dead.

Many victims were burned beyond recognition in the accident, the world’s worst air show crash involving spectators.

But the Pentagon said its latest count put the number of confirmed fatalities at 40, including the six Americans, four Germans, three Italians and 27 people of unknown nationality.

Howard said the Defense Department is trying to resolve conflicts in the casualty counts. The latest Pentagon count also shows 363 individuals injured, of whom 41 were American and 322 German, the spokesman said.

Also, the U.S. Air Force issued a statement saying four injured Americans were being flown to the United States. The names of the four were not made public.

Brigitte De Jesus, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army hospital in Landstuhl, West Germany, said the Americans will be transported to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

U.S. military burn specialists from the medical center in Texas examined 12 seriously burned Americans, including several children, on Tuesday at the hospital in Landstuhl.

A memorial service for the victims will be held Saturday in Ramstein.