A Belgian Air Force combat jet crashed into a field in France on Thursday, with one of the plane's occupants reportedly stuck on a high-tension wire.
The F-16 was carrying out a military exercise when it crashed into a field in Pluvigner, near the Morbihan gulf in northwestern France, according to the Belga news agency.
Both pilots managed to safely eject themselves out of the aircraft as it crashed, but one of them landed on a high-tension wire, according to reports.
Notified of the incident at around 10:30 AM, emergency response teams and the French national guard rushed to the scene of the crash, from which a large cloud of black smoke could be seen from a distance.
Local media reports initially said that one of the military officers was presumed to have died after landing on the power lines, but he is now reported as injured, with emergency services working to release him from the high-tension wire.
The second officer is being treated for injuries, and inhabitants of a house near the site of the crash have been evacuated.
The Belgian defence ministry confirmed the crash in a statement obtained by Belga, and French authorities have launched a crisis management mechanism as a result of the incident.
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
This story is developing.
