Military plane crashes in southern Sudan, killing 6

Military plane crashes in southern Sudan, killing 6

2011-12-31 09:13:38 GMT+7 (ICT)

KHARTOUM, SUDAN (BNO NEWS) -- Six people were killed on Friday when a military plane crashed shortly after take-off in the southern region of Sudan, local media reported. There were no survivors.

Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) spokesman al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa'ad told the Sudan Tribune that the accident happened shortly after take-off from an airport in Al-Ubayyid, the capital of North Kordofan state. A total of six people were on board the aircraft.

Sa'ad said the plane, which was initially reported as a helicopter, was on an 'administrative mission' and carrying military ammunition. The newspaper said all crew members were killed, but there were no reports of casualties on the ground.

The exact cause of the accident was not immediately known, but Sa'ad said the crash was the result of a technical failure which occurred about three minutes after take-off, sparking a fire. The report did not mention what type of aircraft was involved.

In November 2010, at least eight people were killed when a Zalingei Tarco passenger plane carrying up to 40 people crashed while landing at Zalingei Airstrip in Zalingei, a town in western Sudan. It was flying on a route from Khartoum to Zalingei, with a scheduled stopover in El Fasher.

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