FRENCH MILITARY JET CRASH KILLS AT LEAST ONE PERSON

At least one person has died after a French military Mirage 2000D crashed near Toul, the French Air and Space Force said. The force said rescuers had recovered a body from the crash area. A second crew member remained unaccounted for as emergency teams searched the surrounding countryside. Henry Lemoine, mayor of Pont-à-Mousson, said the aircraft crashed at about 10.30pm local time. Lemoine said a drone found the wreckage later that night.

The Ministry of the Armed Forces said the jet had been carrying out a training flight. The two-seat aircraft carried a pilot and a weapons systems officer; accounts differ over which crew member is missing. The jet belonged to Fighter Squadron 2/3 Champagne and was based at Air Base 133 in Nancy-Ochey. Search teams concentrated on Rogéville, Tremblecourt, Domèvre-en-Haye and Villers-en-Haye. Witnesses near Rogéville reported hearing an explosion and seeing a fireball.

Firefighters, police officers and gendarmes joined the search around the crash site. Teams covered a wide rural area that included fields and woodland. A helicopter joined the operation, while drones helped crews search nearby woods. The French Air Force said its initial investigation pointed to a “suspected violent accident”.