Victims of Malta plane crash were reportedly all French

All five victims of a plane crash in Malta on Monday were French, a military source at the airport said.

The Fairchild Metroliner crashed shortly after takeoff at Malta International Airport, said staff there.

The crash happened at about 0530 GMT as the plane was heading for Misrata in Libya, airport officials said.

Airport officials initially said the plane was believed to be carrying officials from EU border agency Frontex. 

The organisation put out a statement saying it had not deployed the plane, but stopped short of saying whether its staff were on board.