HEROES who dragged two critically injured men from the wreckage of a burning plane have been praised by the emergency services.

The brave members of the public rushed to the aid of the light aircraft's occupants with no thought for their own safety.

Despite the ferocity of the fire and the risk of further explosion, they helped the two men to relative safety until professional help arrived.

Now ambulance chief Tony James has praised their actions.

"Clearly the intervention by the bystanders assisted in saving their lives" said Mr James, Director of Operations. "Without their assistance the outcome could certainly have been very different."

Dave Bougourd, 68, and 54-year-old Robert Le Page are today still fighting for their lives in a specialist burns unit at Salisbury District Hospital.

A third man, who has yet to be named by police, died at the scene.

Investigators are examining the wreckage of the Socata Tobago aircraft which plummeted from the sky before bursting into flames just outside the boundary of Bournemouth International Airport at midday on Saturday.

Nigel Gallimore was in the nearby Alice inWonderland Park with his wife, Helen, and their two-and-a-half year-old daughter when the accident happened.

He jumped over the fence when the plane crashed and was helped in his rescue bid by a van driver who had stopped at the scene.

"The plane exploded and we could see two men trying to get out. We managed to help them on to the tarmac.

"There was another explosion and we managed to help them out of the way - the pilot told me he was trying to turn the plane around and get back to the airport," said Mr Gallimore, of Setley Gardens, Throop, Bournemouth.

"I haven't been able to sleep since the crash because I keep thinking about it."

The van driver, who did not wish to be named, said he saw the plane taking off and then saw it turn around before plummeting to the ground.

"I could see the petrol pouring out and I thought 'I have got to get them out'. We realised there was another person in the plane but there was nothing we could do to get to him."

He said they were also helped by a woman who had stopped at the scene.

Police have revealed that all three of the men in the plane were from Guernsey. Mr Le Page is believed to have been the pilot of the 16-year-old, French-built aircraft which is now at the centre of an inquiry by the Civil Aviation Authority.

Hundreds of people were enjoying a Bank Holiday weekend day out at the Alice in Wonderland Park when the crash happened yards from the attraction.

First published: Augut 31