A French-Moroccan family of five were killed on Saturday when their small, twin-engined private plane crashed near Grenoble airport in the foothills of the French Alps, a local government official said.

The plane, which had been heading to Morocco via Spain, came down just after takeoff near the village of Saint-Pierre-de-Bressieux, about 50 km (30 miles) northwest of Grenoble.

The two parents and three children aged between 8 and 14 were returning to Morocco after a skiing holiday in the Alps, the official said. The cause of the crash was not clear.

(Reporting by Catherine Lagrange; Writing by John Irish; Editing by Kevin Liffey)