Libya’s Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh has announced the deaths of the country’s army chief of staff and several senior officials following a tragic accident as they were returning from an official visit to Türkiye.

In a post on X, Dbeibeh said on Tuesday he received the news “with deep sorrow and grief,” confirming the loss of Lieutenant General Mohammad al-Haddad and members of his delegation.

Those killed alongside al-Haddad include the chief of staff of the land forces, the head of the military manufacturing authority, an adviser to the army chief, and a media office photographer.

The prime minister said the incident occurred during their return journey from the Turkish capital Ankara, without providing further details on the circumstances.

Calling it a major loss for the nation and the armed forces, the prime minister said Libya had lost men who served their country with “sincerity, discipline and national commitment,” offering condolences to their families, colleagues in the military and the wider Libyan public.

Türkiye’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said earlier that the wreckage of a Libya-bound private jet carrying the Libyan army chief that departed Ankara has been found in Ankara’s Haymana district.

The Turkish minister said earlier that contact was lost with the jet carrying the Libyan army chief shortly after departure from Ankara’s Esenboga Airport.

The Falcon 50-type business jet, with tail number 9H-DFJ, took off at 8.10 pm local time (1710 GMT) en route to Tripoli. Communication was cut off at approximately 8.52 pm local time (1752 GMT), Yerlikaya said on Turkish social media platform NSosyal.

He stated that the aircraft had transmitted an emergency landing notification near Haymana, a district south of the Turkish capital Ankara.

“However, no further contact could be established with the aircraft after the initial emergency signal,” he noted.

According to the minister, five passengers were on board, including al-Haddad.

Turkish broadcaster NTV reported that radio contact had been lost with a private jet believed to be carrying al-Haddad over the capital, while flight tracking data showed several flights being diverted away from Esenboga Airport as a precaution.

Türkiye’s defence ministry had announced earlier that the Libyan chief of staff was visiting Ankara, where he met his Turkish counterpart and other senior military commanders. The visit was part of ongoing military and security coordination between the two countries.