Five French customs officers were killed when a plane heading towards Libya to monitor migrant trafficking routes crashed shortly after take-off at Malta’s main airport.
The US-registered light aircraft, on lease to a company in Luxembourg, was seen banking sharply before plummeting to the ground and exploding in a huge fireball at around 7.20am local time.
Malta’s government said the five men were part of a French customs surveillance operation tracing routes of human and drug trafficking.
The plane, a twin-propeller Fairchild Metroliner Mark III, had been heading for Misrata in north-west Libya.
A spokesman for the airport at Luqa said: “We can confirm that the five crew on board the aircraft are deceased. Our thoughts are with families of people involved in this accident.
“An investigation is currently ongoing and we are working with all the authorities to provide them with any assistance necessary.”
VIDEO: This is the horror moment a plane crashed to the ground at Malta Airport, killing five people