Family members of Osama Bin Laden were on board a plane which crashed in Hampshire, the Saudi Arabian embassy in the UK has said.
The private jet crashed near Blackbushe Airport, Yateley, on Friday killing the pilot and all three passengers.
In a statement on Twitter, the Saudi ambassador to the UK, Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf Al Saud, offered condolences to the Bin Laden family. The embassy said it was in contact with the British crash investigators. The statement said: “His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf Al Saud... has paid his condolences to the family and relatives of Mohammed bin Laden at Blackbushe airport in Britain for the great loss they have suffered as a result of the crash of the plane that was carrying the family.”
The embassy added that it was working with the British authorities to ensure speedy handover of the bodies for funerals and burials in Saudi Arabia.
The plane - an Embraer Phenom 300 - is reported to have belonged to an aviation firm owned by the Saudi-based family of the former al-Qaeda leader. The plane, which was arriving from Milan, Italy, crashed into a British Car Auctions site at the airfield shortly after 15:00 BST, exploding on impact.
Eyewitnesses at the scene said there had been a “ball of flames” and “several explosions”.
Its pilot and all three passengers were killed but no-one on the ground was injured, Hampshire Police said.
The force is carrying out a joint investigation with the AAIB. In a statement, Blackbushe Airport said the jet had crashed near the end of the runway while attempting to make a landing.
A spokeswoman for Milan Malpensa Airport confirmed the plane had left at 13:30 BST on its way to Hampshire. The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation tweeted that the plane was a Saudi-registered private aircraft, and said it would support the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch in its investigation.
Geoff Pierce, an aviation enthusiast from Fleet in Hampshire was at Blackbushe airfield and saw the plane come down.
He said: “I have seen that type of aircraft land a number of times at the airport. At first I didn’t realise what was happening, I was taking photos at the time.”
He said the plane did not seem to make a normal approach and appeared to be going at high speed.
“The next thing I knew the siren was wailing on the control tower and then I saw a big plume of black smoke.” Jennie Cole’s garden backs onto the runway, with only a small amount of woodland between.
“To think that is was that close is quite scary,” she said. Berry Wright said there was a “huge bang” followed by an explosion.“It started off instantly with smoke coming up, then there was a small flame from the top of the air craft, then...it just literally went into a ball of flames within a minute.”
