Libyan military plane crashes southeast of Tripoli

By Ayman Saad

TRIPOLI, Libya 

A Libyan military plane crashed in an area southeast of capital Tripoli killing both the pilot and co-pilot, a Libyan official said Thursday.

"A warplane affiliated with the Libyan air force crashed in the Raheema area some 80 kilometers southeast of Tripoli after taking off from the city of Misrata," Subhi Massuad, an army colonel loyal to Libya’s national unity government, said in a press statement.

Massuad went on to attribute the crash to a "technical failure".

According to eyewitnesses, the ill-fated plane struck a residential building in the Raheema area as it fell.

It was not immediately clear if the crash had resulted in any deaths or injuries among building residents.