A speeding truck crashed and caught fire on a British airfield in Afghanistan Wednesday moments before Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was scheduled to land, according to the Pentagon.Â
The secretary is safe and was not in any danger, a Pentagon spokesman told Fox News -- though one coalition service member was apparently injured.Â
According to spokesman Capt. John Kirby, an unidentified Afghan was driving an apparently stolen pickup truck at high speed toward the ramp where Panetta was supposed to land at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province on Wednesday.Â
But the vehicle ran into a ditch and caught fire right before the landing -- Panetta's flight was switched to land at a different ramp at the last moment. The Afghan driver was burned over most his body and is now in a military hospital. No explosives were found.Â
"We have no confirmation that this speeding vehicle posed a threat to the secretary's health. At no point was the secretary's safety in jeopardy," Kirby said.Â
The International Security Assistance Force also said in a brief statement that the incident "resulted in the injury of one coalition service member."
The statement said the driver is now in custody, and an investigation is underway. ISAF also stressed that Panetta and those on the aircraft were not in "any danger from this incident."Â
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin and Justin Fishel contributed to this report.Â
Article from FOXNEWS
