Five dead as French plane crashes in Malta

VALLETTA: A reconnaissance plane working for France´s defence ministry crashed in a ball of flames at Malta´s international airport on Monday, killing all five people on board, officials said.

The plane plummeted into the ground nose-first shortly after taking off for an undisclosed surveillance mission from the island, which lies just 220 miles north of Tripoli, the capital of conflict-torn Libya.

The Maltese government said in a statement that there was no indication of an explosion prior to the crash but did not rule out sabotage.

The French defence ministry said the plane had been working on its behalf, carrying out "reconnaissance missions in the Mediterranean".

Three of those who died were employees of the defence ministry, it said. The two others were pilots employed by CAE Aviation, a private company based in Luxembourg which specialises in aerial surveillance and regularly works with European military. Defence sources said "not all" of the dead had been from the French military but did not want to reveal further details pending notification of all the victims´ families.