Spanish defence ministry says F-16 crashed at military base in Albacete while taking part in Nato manoeuvres

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A Greek F-16 fighter jet crashed during a Nato exercise in south-east Spain on Monday, killing at least 10 French and Greek military personnel, the Spanish prime minister has said.

Another 21 people were injured in the incident at the Los Llanos base, which sent flames and a plume of black smoke billowing into the air, the Spanish defence ministry said in a statement.

The prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, told Spain’s Telecinco news programme on Monday night that 11 of the injured were Italian and 10 were French.

Five of the injured with severe burns were transported to a Madrid hospital for treatment and the rest were undergoing treatment in the city of Albacete near the base, the defence ministry said.

The two-seater jet was taking off when it crashed into an area of the base where other planes involved in the Nato exercise were parked.

The ministry said that emergency crews tried to put out a fire caused by the crash. Television footage showed flames billowing and a plume of black smoke where the plane crashed at the Los Llanos base.

A Nato spokeswoman declined to disclose details, referring questions to Spanish and Greek military officials.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Smoke rises from the base in Albacete. Photograph: Josema Moreno/AP

The Spanish ministry said the jet that crashed was taking part in a Nato training exercise called the Tactical Leadership Program.

According to a US air force website, TLP was formed in 1978 by Nato’s central region air forces to advance their tactical capabilities and produce tactics, techniques and procedures that improve multi-national tactical air operations.

The first TLP course was located at Fuerstenfeldbruck Air Base, Germany. It has been based at the Spanish base since June 2009.