Libya’s army chief has died in a plane crash. It is feared all others on board have also perished. The country’s Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah confirmed his death in a statement, while the Interior Minister claimed that all evidence pointed to a technical malfunction. The Prime Minster described the General’s death as a great loss for the nation.

Video images posted to social media channels reportedly show wreckage from the plane strewn around the crash site. Air traffic controllers lost contact with a Dassault Falcon 50 jet about 30 minutes after it took off from Esenboğa Airport on Tuesday evening.

The private jet was carrying the Libyan Chief of General Staff General Mohamed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad. Also believed to have been on board were five members of his entourage, as well as two pilots and a cabin crew member. The General had held talks earlier on Tuesday with Turkey’s Defence Minister Yaşar Güler.

Eye witnesses report hearing two explosions near the airport, while CCTV cameras in the vicinity appear to show the night sky suddenly being lit up.

Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya posted a statement to his X social media page to confirm that contact with the aircraft had been lost.

“Contact with the Falcon 50 type business jet, tail number 9H-DFJ, which took off from Ankara Esenboğa Airport at 20:10 this evening en route to Tripoli, has been lost as of 20:52.

“An emergency landing notification was received from the aircraft near Haymana; however, contact with the aircraft could not be re-established afterward.

“The aircraft, which includes Chief of the General Staff of Libya, General Muhammed Ali Ahmed AL-Haddad, among its passengers, has five passengers on board. The public will be informed of developments.”

Search and rescue teams have been sent to the area, officials said. Reports are also coming in that wreckage from the plane has been found.

The Libyan General discussed defence cooperation and regional security at talks with his Turkish counterpart General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu.

Delegation-level meetings were also held, with Turkish Land Forces Commander General Metin Tokel and Libyan Land Forces Commander Lt. General Futuri Gribel joining the discussions.

Ankara has close ties with the United Nations-backed government in Tripoli, to which it provides economic and military support.

Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya. He played a crucial role the U.N.-brokered ongoing efforts to unify Libya’s military, which has split much like Libya’s institutions.