Three family members of bin Laden killed in UK plane crash

Three family members of former Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden were killed when a private jet crashed in Britain's Hampshire county, a media report said on Saturday.

The victims included Laden's stepmother Rajaa Hashim and sister Sana, reported The Telegraph citing sources. Laden's brother-in-law Zuhair Hashim is also believed to be among the dead. The pilot, who was reported to be Jordanian, was also killed.

The jet, inbound from the Italian city of Milan, crashed near Blackbushe Airport, Yateley, a suburban town in Hampshire, on Friday killing the pilot and all the three passengers.

The deaths of members of the prominent Saudi business clan and relatives of Laden, who masterminded the 2001 September 11 (9/11) attack on the US, in which nearly 3,000 people were killed and who was later killed by US special forces in Pakistan - was confirmed on microblogging site Twitter by Saudi ambassador to Britain Prince Mohammed-bin-Nawaf Al Saud.

"His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdul Aziz, the ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to the United Kingdom, offered his condolences to the sons of the late Mohammed bin Laden and their relations for the grave incident of the crash of the plane carrying members of the family at Blackbushe airport," he tweeted.

The Saudi embassy added that it was working with the British authorities to ensure speedy hand over of the bodies for funerals and burials in Saudi Arabia.

Witnesses at the scene said there had been a "ball of flames" and "several explosions".

However, no one on the ground was injured, Hampshire Police said.