A Ukrainian fighter jet killed at least 78 people and injured 115 on Saturday when it hurtled to the ground and cart wheeled in flames into a crowd of spectators in the world's deadliest air show disaster. The Russian-built Sukhoi Su-27's wing clipped the ground as it failed to come out of a difficult rolling dive at the show outside the city of Lviv, close to the border with Poland.

An Emergencies Ministry spokesman in the picturesque western city told Reuters seven children were among the dead: "I hope that these are the last figures but I am not sure."

President Leonid Kuchma, who cut short his holiday on hearing the news and rushed to the scene, sacked air force chief Volodymyr Strelnykov, Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted his spokeswoman as saying.

"The guilty must be brought to justice, on this point there is no doubt," the president told local television stations.

Ukraine's defense minister had also fired the head of the 14th air force division, which was celebrating its 60th anniversary at the air show, the news agency said.

Earlier, horrified spectators watched as the warplane appeared to stall in midair before plunging groundwards.

The stricken craft clipped the tops of trees lining the airfield before trailing a wing across the tarmac, slicing the nose off a large transport aircraft and exploding in a huge orange and black ball of fire.

A shower of deadly metal debris fell upon the terrified onlookers who had packed the airfield.

"There were fragments of people lying by the plane," said Roman Andreiko, a local television executive who hid with his family behind a truck when the disaster happened.

"There were clouds of smoke. People were in shock," he said.

The two colonels flying the twin-engined plane ejected just seconds before it erupted into flames. One was seen being helped away by emergency crews, his silk parachute wrapped around a pole. Both airmen were receiving hospital treatment.

PHOTO CAPTION

An SU-27 fighter plane crashes while performing maneuvers at an air show near the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, July 27, 2002. Dozens were killed and over 100 were hospitalized, officials said. (Reuters)