Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced the discovery of the bodies of the victims of the plane carrying the Libyan army’s chief of staff, in addition to finding its black box, after it crashed near the capital Ankara.
During a press conference held at the scene of the accident, Yerlikaya stated that “the bodies of the victims have been found and transferred to forensic medicine to complete the official and routine procedures,” expressing his condolences to the Libyan people and the families of the victims. He added that a Libyan team of about 29 people had arrived in Turkey to participate in the investigations into the plane crash.
The Turkish minister pointed out that the plane’s black box was found at 3:20 a.m., along with the recording device, stressing that the concerned authorities have begun examining these devices. He also stressed that the ongoing investigations are comprehensive and take into account all possibilities, stressing that the authorities will continue their procedures and investigations “with transparency and clarity,” and the results will be announced to the public.
In a related context, Turkish media reported that the crew of the crashed plane near Ankara were of French nationality. CNN Türk reported that there were eight people on board the plane, including the Chief of the General Staff of the Libyan Army, Muhammad al-Haddad, and that the crew members were of French nationality.
The channel quoted its sources as saying that the plane was carrying five members of the military delegation and three crew members, all of whom were of French nationality, and suggested that all those on board had died. It also pointed out that the Libyan ambassador in Ankara arrived last night at the crash site and inspected the scene.
The head of the Libyan National Unity Government in Tripoli, Abdul Hamid al-Dabaiba, had announced that the Chief of Staff, Muhammad al-Haddad, and his companions had died as a result of the plane crash that disappeared from radar screens shortly after taking off from Ankara. The Turkish Minister of Justice, Yilmaz Tunç, stated that the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Ankara had begun an investigation into the circumstances of the accident.
