The Prime Minister of the Libyan National Unity Government, Abdel Hamid Dbeibah, announced via his official account, the tragic news that claimed the lives of the Chief of Staff and the accompanying military delegation, following a painful plane crash as they returned from an official trip in the Turkish capital, Ankara.
The list of victims included a group of senior leaders and officials in the Libyan military establishment, namely:
Major General Fitouri Ghriebil: Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces.
Brigadier Mahmoud Al-Qatiwi: Director of the Military Manufacturing Division.
Mohamed Al-Asawi Diab: Advisor to the Chief of Staff.
Mohamed Omar Ahmed Mahjoub: Photographer in the Media Office of the General Chief of Staff.
Details of the final moments
The Turkish Interior Minister, Ali Yerli Qaya, revealed the final moments of the doomed flight; he reported that the plane took off from Ankara at exactly 17:10 GMT.
Before losing radar signal at 17:52, the pilot sent a distress call requesting an emergency landing in Ankara's airspace, but all communications were completely cut off after that report.
Alert for search and anticipation for investigation
An extreme state of alert prevails among both the civil and military aviation authorities in Turkey, where extensive search operations have been launched to accurately locate the wreckage. Initial estimates suggest that the plane crashed due to the failure of the emergency landing attempt, while the Libyan public is deeply saddened as they await the technical reports that will clarify the technical reasons for this incident that has taken prominent figures in the military establishment.
