ISTANBUL 

The black box and cockpit voice recorder were recovered early Wednesday from the wreckage of a private jet that crashed near capital Ankara a day earlier killing Libya’s army chief and others on board, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.

Yerlikaya told reporters that the wreckage spans roughly 3 square kilometers (about 1.16 square miles)

"As a result of the work carried out at the scene by teams from the Transportation Safety Investigation Center of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the aircraft’s voice recorder was recovered in the wreckage area at 2.45 am (2345GMT Tuesday), and the black box was found at 3.20 am (local time),” he said.

The process of examining and evaluating these devices has begun, the minister added.

A total of 408 personnel have been working at the scene with 103 ground vehicles and seven air vehicles, Yerlikaya noted.

A 22-member Libyan delegation – including five relatives of the victims, Defense Ministry representatives and officials from the Interior Ministry – has arrived in Ankara, Yerlikaya said.

“We are also very curious about [the cause of the crash], but this data will reveal the cause, and the authorities will share the findings with you,” he said.

He also offered condolences to the families of those killed and to the Libyan government and people, calling the incident a “tragic accident.”

Yerlikaya earlier said that the wreckage of Falcon 50-type business jet, which took off from Ankara’s Esenboga Airport en route to Tripoli, was found by gendarmerie teams about 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) south of Kesikkavak village in Haymana district of the province.

Libya’s Government of National Unity declared three days of national mourning following the deaths.