Jet crashes near French Riviera, three dead

NICE, France (Reuters) - A private jet crashed and burst into flames as it landed near France's southern Riviera coast on Friday, killing its three American crew members, a local government prefect said.

The Gulfstream jet that had left the city of Nice went down at Le Castellet airfield near the seaside resort of Saint Tropez, hurtling into a wooded area where it caught fire, Paul Mourier, the prefect, said.

The crash killed the three crew members, who were the only people aboard, two American men aged 60 and 24 and an American woman aged 30, said Mourier.

"All we know is the plane left the runway and ended up in a wooded area where it caught fire immediately," he said.

(Reporting by Pierre Thebault; Writing by Brian Love; Editing by Andrew Heavens)