French military jets collide in midair, two dead

PARIS: Two French military jets collided in midair over the country’s east on Wednesday (Aug 15), killing two military personnel and leaving a sole survivor, French officials said.
In a post on X, French President Emmanuel Macron identified the fatalities in the Rafale aircraft accident as Captain Sebastien Mabire and Lieutenant Matthis Laurens.
French media said one of the two was a trainee pilot and the other a pilot. French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on X that the remaining pilot survived.
The planes were based at the Saint-Dizier military installation in northeastern France.