U.S. Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparotti, the deputy commander of American forces in Afghanistan, told reporters traveling with Panetta that the man died on Thursday morning of severe burns.

Scaparotti says the man apparently had a container of fuel in the car, which ignited during the crash Wednesday at the British airfield in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.

No one in Panetta's party was hurt. The driver traveled at high speed and crashed into a ditch near the ramp where Panetta's plane was going to park.

Scaparotti says the driver was headed toward a group of Marines at the ramp.