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| Vehicle 'burst into flames' on Camp Bastion's runway | |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| A vehicle has driven onto the runway at the main British military base in Afghanistan and burst into flames, reports say. | |
| The incident took place as the US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta was visiting Camp Bastion, in Helmand province. | The incident took place as the US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta was visiting Camp Bastion, in Helmand province. |
| A spokesman for the Nato-led Isaf force said the driver of the vehicle was receiving medical treatment. | A spokesman for the Nato-led Isaf force said the driver of the vehicle was receiving medical treatment. |
| At no point was anyone on board Mr Panetta's plane at risk, he added. | At no point was anyone on board Mr Panetta's plane at risk, he added. |
| The vehicle was at the opposite end of the runway from the plane; Mr Panetta is not believed to have been on board at the time. | |
| A flash was seen from the vehicle, but military sources have told the BBC that they would be "wary" of describing it as an explosion as an investigation is still going on. | |
| The driver of the vehicle was an Afghan civilian employed at the base, who was badly hurt. | |
| The BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul, who has visited the camp many times, says there is an enormous level of security at the base, including internal security between the various military sites it houses. | |
| Camp Bastion is one of the world's busiest airports, he says, due to the volume of helicopter and air plane flights landing and taking off. | |
| Leon Panetta's visit to Helmand comes as the US seeks to contain the fallout from the shooting of 16 Afghan villagers by a US soldier on Sunday. | |
| Mr Panetta was in Helmand to address US troops, as fears mount that they could be the target of a backlash against foreign forces. |