14 DAY TRIAL // A Moroccan family has been killed near the town of Grenoble, France, as they returned from vacation, reports say.
The Irish Independent tracks the twin-engine plane as it departs from the small Grenoble airport and simply drops off the radar. The incident occurred on Saturday, January 5, when the skies were clear.
The plane was being flown by the father of three children, local police captain Virginie Favier explains. He was traveling with them and his wife back to Morocco. They had visited the nearby alpine resorts, and were returning home.
Government official Bruno Charlot clarifies that all 5 died as the aircraft crashed. The pilot lost contact with traffic control and crashed almost immediately after take-off, captain Gilles Rabault adds. The cause of the accident has not been made public at this time.
The incident prompted a search into the whereabouts of the family members. Authorities located the wreckage in a wooded area outside the city.
The plane was privately owned, and most likely used only by the family that perished in the accident, according to news outlets. Gulf Times writes that they had French-Moroccan citizenship.
It appears it hit a hill and landed in a forest, not far from Grenoble. No other victims have been registered on the ground, since the area is not heavily inhabited.
A small fire was started upon crashing, but it did not need putting out as it extinguished itself before emergency operators arrived at the scene.
"We felt a big shake. The crash happened just below my house. At the beginning, I did not know what it was. We found out after firemen came that it was a plane crash. We did not see the wreckage," a witness going by the name of Leo told reporters.