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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/24/plane-carrying-eu-border-officials-crashes-in-malta-five-dead
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Malta plane crash: five people killed after incident during takeoff | Malta plane crash: five people killed after incident during takeoff |
(35 minutes later) | |
A small plane heading towards Libya’s coast to monitor migrant trafficking routes for the French government has crashed soon after takeoff from Malta’s airport, killing all five French crew. | |
The twin-prop Fairchild Metroliner banked right and hit the ground, causing a huge fireball, at about 7.20am local time, video captured by a dashboard camera showed. | |
Malta’s government said all five victims were French and that the flight was part of a French customs surveillance operation tracing routes of illicit trafficking, of humans and drugs, leaving Libya’s lawless coasts. | |
Libya is the main point of departure for tens of thousands of migrants who have been paying smugglers to bring them toward Europe by boat. | |
Early media reports said the plane had been chartered by the European Union’s border control agency, Frontex. | |
Malta’s international airport is used for surveillance flights to Libya due to its proximity. The government said the French customs operation had been active for about five months. | |
The airport was closed for four hours while debris was cleared, delaying more than a dozen flights, according to a notice on the airport website. | |
The Metroliner was registered in the US and leased to a Luxembourg company, the government statement added. |