Charred body of airman found after Italian Air Force jets crashing

Italian authorities said on Wednesday they have found the body of one of the four airmen missing after two Air Force tornado jets collided in midair and crashed while on a training mission in central Italy.
The charred body of a man was reportedly recovered in the fuselage of one of the aircraft, in a wooded area near the town of Ascoli Piceno, in Marche region, where the crashing happened on Tuesday. Sources quoted by Rai state television said the remains of another airman was detected later in the day.
Rescue teams continued the search through the night and into Wednesday for the missing two pilots and two navigators, three men and a woman, who were believed by the Air Force authorities to have managed to eject before they crashed.
The probability to find them still alive however was very slim, according to local officials.
"We exclude that the missing airmen are still alive," a local police chief was quoted as saying by la Repubblica newspaper on Wednesday.
The two military planes collided for unknown reasons and crashed into a wooded area and then caught fire. Firefighters were struggling to contain the raging flames and dark smoke that were visible up to 25 km away and risked to reach the nearby villages.
Eyewitnesses quoted by the Italian press said they saw the two aircraft flying low near Ascoli Piceno, then heard a crash and saw one of them bursting into flames and both falling out of the sky. No civilian casualties were reported on the ground.
The tornado jets were coming from the Ghedi air base in northern Italy, and were expected to return there after the training mission. Local authorities have opened an investigation to ascertain the causes and responsibilities of the tragedy.