Airshow Victims' Remains May Never Be Found

The remains of some of the victims of the Shoreham Airshow disaster may never be recovered, Sky News has been told, as a first responder spoke of the horror he encountered when he arrived at the scene.

At least 11 people were killed when a Hawker Hunter jet crashed into several cars on the A27 in West Sussex last Saturday.

Ahead of today's memorial events in Shoreham and elsewhere, senior officer with Sussex Police told Sky News it might not be possible to recover the remains of all of the victims from what he said was a "gruesome" scene.

When asked if that was a possibility, Assistant Chief Constable Steve Barry said: "That is absolutely the case, and that is one of the reasons why we are so meticulous and so thorough in our gathering of the evidence, because we want to help the families understand as much as they can what happened to their loved ones."

He added more than 20 highly-trained officers are working with the families to support them and provide them with the most up-to-date information.

The plane crashed with such force that specialists are having to examine DNA, teeth and human remains to find out who was killed.

The pilot of the aircraft, Andy Hill, is in a critical condition and has been moved to a specialist hospital.

A further two victims of the crash have been named as Daniele Polito and Tony Brightwell.

Police Constable Chris Storey was on duty when a call came into the control room about an incident involving a number of cars on fire.

He travelled onto the A27 and helped set up diversions to take traffic away from the crash site.

Then PC Storey made his way to the scene of the tragedy itself.

He told Sky News: "It was unlike anything I'd ever seen. It's the sort of thing you see in a film.

"There were lots of damaged vehicles, lots of debris everywhere, lots of damage to the trees and bushes along the southern side of the scene, lots of damage to street furniture - traffic lights and signs and barriers.

"Pretty horrendous."

PC Storey said the only thing he could hear as he took in the devastation in front of him was the sirens from the fire engines.

The smell of jet fuel hung heavily in the air, and PC Storey said there was little left of the plane itself apart from the cockpit.

When asked about the condition of the people caught up in the crash, he paused, before adding: "There were lots of deceased, a lot of them.

"Obviously I don't want to talk about what I saw regarding that."

PC Storey said he has thought about the crash every day since, and thinks it is unlikely he will ever forget what he saw.

He said: "I'd never attended anything on that scale or magnitude really.

"It sort of takes your breath away when you first get there and see this entire scene ahead of you. It was a big scene.

"I know it's my job, but I'm unfortunate enough to go to numerous, numerous fatal collisions, serious collisions, and part of that is seeing some pretty awful things, but this was on a different scale altogether."

The road remains shut, although it is hoped it will reopen on Monday, while an interim report into the crash is expected to be released in the next few days.

A minute's silence will be observed in Shoreham at 1.20pm later today - exactly one week on from the disaster.

Many will gather at a wooden toll bridge near the site of the crash that has become a focal point for floral tributes to those who died.

A candlelit vigil will also take place at the Adur Ferry Bridge as part of the town's annual River Fest over the Bank Holiday weekend.

A memorial service for the dead is planned for the end of September, with an exact date and location set to be announced soon.