US fighter jet crash kills 3

A military jet on a training mission crashed into a suburban San Diego neighborhood on Monday, destroying two houses, killing three people and leaving another missing, although the pilot ejected safely, officials said.

The F/A-18D fighter suffered a mechanical problem when approaching the nearby Marine Corps Air Station Miramar after taking off from an aircraft carrier offshore in the Pacific as part of a training exercise.

Speaking to reporters about the casualties, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said, "We know that apparently there might have been a grandmother, and a mother and two children" in one of the homes reduced to rubble by the fiery crash.