ANKARA – On Wednesday, search and recovery teams ramped up their efforts at the crash site of a plane that claimed the lives of Libya’s top military leader and several senior officers. The teams focused on securing the location and retrieving the aircraft’s flight recorders, after a night plagued by heavy rain and fog, as reported by Turkey’s state-run news agency.

The ill-fated private jet, carrying Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad along with four other officers and three crew members, tragically went down in Turkey on Tuesday. The crash occurred shortly after the aircraft departed from Ankara, resulting in no survivors. Libyan authorities have attributed the mishap to a technical issue with the plane.

The Libyan officials were en route back to Tripoli after participating in high-level defense discussions in Ankara, which aimed to enhance military collaboration between Libya and Turkey.

Libya’s Prime Minister, Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah, confirmed the fatalities, expressing his sorrow on Facebook. He described the event as a “tragic accident” and a “great loss” for the nation.

Gen. Al-Haddad served as the chief military commander in western Libya and was instrumental in the ongoing United Nations-led efforts to unify Libya’s divided military forces, reflecting the broader fragmentation within the country’s institutions.

The four other officers who died in the crash were Gen. Al-Fitouri Ghraibil, the head of Libya’s ground forces, Brig. Gen. Mahmoud Al-Qatawi, who led the military manufacturing authority, Mohammed Al-Asawi Diab, advisor to the chief of staff, and Mohammed Omar Ahmed Mahjoub, a military photographer with the chief of staff’s office.

The identities of the three crew members were not immediately released.

Turkish officials said the Falcon 50 type business jet took off from Ankara’s Esenboga airport at 8:30 p.m. and that contact was lost some 40 minutes later. The plane notified air traffic control of an electrical fault and requested an emergency landing. The aircraft was redirected back to Esenboga, where preparations for its landing began.

The plane, however, disappeared from the radar while descending for the emergency landing, the Turkish presidential communications office said.

The wreckage was found near the village of Kesikkavak, in Haymana, a district some 70 kilometers (about 43.5 miles) south of Ankara.

At Haymana, gendarmerie police sealed off the area where the plane crashed, while the Turkish disaster management agency, AFAD, set up a mobile coordination center, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Specialized vehicles, such as tracked ambulances, were deployed because of the muddy terrain.

Anadolu said Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya is expected to visit the site along with prosecutors assigned to lead the investigation.

Libya was also expected to send a team to Ankara to work with Turkish authorities investigating the crash.

While in Ankara, al-Haddad had met with Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler and other officials.

Libya plunged into chaos after the country’s 2011 uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The country split, with rival administrations in the east and west, backed by an array of rogue militias and foreign governments.

Turkey has been allied with Libya’s government in the west, but has recently taken steps to improve ties with the eastern-based government as well.

Tuesday’s visit by the Libyan delegation came a day after Turkey’s parliament approved to extend the mandate of Turkish troops serving in Libya for two years. Turkey deployed troops following a 2019 security and military cooperation agreement that was reached between Ankara and the Tripoli-based government.

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Abuelgasim reported from Cairo.