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The Yemeni supreme security commission said the death toll from Tuesday's fighter jet crash has hit 10, including two children, in a residential area of the capital Sanaa, according to a statement carried by state-run Saba news agency.
In the statement, the supreme security commission said the black box of the crashed Sukhoi 22 fighter jet was found in the wreckage and that a joint air force-defense ministry committee has launched an investigation into the accident.
"Final findings will be published once the investigation has finished," the statement said.
The fighter jet was on a training mission when it fell down on a three-story building in the area near Sanaa University in downtown Sanaa.
The security commission also said the one-seat helicopter's pilot, Captain Mohammed Shakir, was one of the victims, and that two children and three women were among the other nine civilian deaths.
People gather at the crash site in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 19, 2013. (Xinhua/Mohammed Mohammed)
In addition, about 17 people living in the populated area were injured and several houses were damaged.
According to an on-line statement by the defense ministry, the pilot had made a request to an airport control tower for landing permission before it crashed.
"The control tower gave the pilot the permission but a few seconds later, the plane ... fell down on the residential neighborhood in Sanaa," it said, denying reports that the crashed fighter jet was carrying missiles.
Officials and witnesses said that the crashing site is where thousands of protesters rallied against former President Ali Abdullah Saleh nearly two years ago.
Earlier, an official with an air force base told Xinhua that the fighter jet, on a training mission, carried two missiles, one of which exploded during the accident.
He said the powerful explosion rocked the residential area and that black smoke were seen from several kilometers away.
Tuesday's crash was the second in Sanaa since a Russian-made Antonov warplane fell in a deserted market in Hassaba neighborhood in the northern part of the capital on November 21, 2012, which left 10 people dead.
A rescue helicopter hovers above the crash site in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 19, 2013. (Xinhua/Mohammed Mohammed)
On October 15, 2012, another military helicopter with a pilot onboard crashed near the Anad air base in Yemen's southern province of Lahj due to technical problems and the pilot died later from serious injuries.
Government officials have said that President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi is considering a legislation to ban warplanes from carrying out training missions over residential areas.
