A two-seater MIG-21 plane crashed during a military drill on Tuesday in an uninhabited forest area of Slatina in northeastern Croatia but both pilots were rescued, the Croatian Defence Ministry said.

The pilots successfully ejected from the plane and landed safely, the ministry said, adding that they were in a stable condition, had no life-threatening injuries and would be examined in hospital.

Two army helicopters, military police and drones were deployed to search for the pilots, assisted by civil protection officers and firefighters.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told reporters that the crash was probably caused by a technical problem.

It was the third crash of a military aircraft in Croatia since 2020, when four pilots were killed in two separate accidents. (AFP: Text, Excluding Headline)