Three French defence ministry staff, two contractors die in Malta crash

PARIS (Reuters) - Three French Defence Ministry officials and two private contractors died when their plane on a surveillance mission over the Mediterranean crashed at an airport in Malta during take-off, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. The ministry will conduct an investigation on what caused the crash on Monday morning, Le Drian said in a statement. (Reporting by Marine Pennetier and Ingrid Melander; Editing by Leigh Thomas)