MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The five victims of a deadly aircraft crash in southern Malta were French nationals on a routine surveillance operation to trace trafficking routes, the government of Malta said in a statement Monday.
"The flight was part of a French Customs surveillance operation which has been taking place for the past five months, with the aim of tracing routes of illicit trafficking of all sorts, including human and drug trafficking amongst others," the government said.
24 October 2016, 08:49 GMT
The Fairchild Metroliner Mark III aircraft registered in the United States and leased to a Luxembourg-based company crashed soon after takeoff from Malta International Airport at 05:20 GMT, it confirmed. The remains of all five French nationals on board have been found, the government of Malta added.
Contrary to reports of its intended destination of northern Libya, the Maltese government said the flight was registered with the Malta Air Traffic Services as a local flight scheduled to return "within hours without landing in third countries."
