Plane crash leaves 20 dead in South Sudan

JUBA, South Sudan - At least 20 people were killed on Wednesday in South Sudan after their small aircraft crashed, officials said, noting that the accident happened in the northern part of the country within Unity State, near the border with Sudan.

The aircraft came down near the oil fields in Unity state at about 10:30 am (08:30 GMT) shortly after taking off for the capital, Juba, on Wednesday, the state's minister of information told reporters.

“The plane crashed 500 meters from the airport… 21 people were on board. As for now, there’s only one survivor,” Gatwech Bipal Both told AFP news agency.

According to an eyewitness, one survivor who is a South Sudanese engineer working in one of the oil fields, was immediately taken to Bentiu State Hospital. The Unity State information minister confirmed the reports.

Details gathered about the aircraft indicate that it is chartered by the Greater Pioneer Operating Company (GPOC) and operated by Light Air Services aviation company. At the time of the accident, it was on a routine mission to the area, the minister added.

Earlier, the United Nations’s Radio Miraya reported that the pilot and co-pilot were among those killed. The aircraft was mostly carrying oil field workers at the time the tragedy struck on Wednesday.

Bipal said the passengers were oil workers of the Greater Pioneer Operating Company (GPOC) a consortium that includes China National Petroleum Corporation and state-owned Nile Petroleum Corporation.

Among those dead were two Chinese nationals and one Indian. Bipal gave no more details on the circumstances that led to the crash. Media reports had initially put the death toll at 18 but Bipal told Reuters two survivors had later died.

Several air crashes have occurred in war-torn South Sudan in recent years. In September 2018, at least 19 people died when a small aircraft carrying passengers from the capital Juba to the city of Yirol crashed.

In 2015, dozens of people were killed when a Russian-built cargo plane with passengers on board crashed after taking off from the airport in the capital Juba, a report compiled by Reuters further shows.

GAROWE ONLINE