World

South Sudan plane crashes, all 49 passengers, crew survive

South Sudan plane crashes, all 49 passengers, crew survive

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

FILE - Some of the more than 30,000 civilians sheltering in a United Nations base in South Sudan's capital Juba for fear of targeted killings by government forces walk by an armored vehicle and a watchtower manned by Chinese UN peacekeepers, on Monday, July 25, 2016. According to reports from victims which have come to light Monday August 15, 2016, South Sudanese troops, fresh from winning a battle against opposition forces in the capital, Juba, on July 11, 2016, went on a nearly four-hour rampage through a residential compound popular with foreigners, and the UN peacekeeping force stationed nearby are accused of refusing to respond to desperate calls for help. Photo: AP

JUBA: A passenger aeroplane crash-landed and burned in Wau, northwestern South Sudan on Monday, but all 49 passengers and crew survived, an airport official. The aeroplane was landing but then crashed, said Wau's Acting Airport Manager Stephen Youngule. 'The plane touched down and then jumped up again. The pilot couldn't control it,' said Youngule, who is also Deputy Director of Air Traffic Services. 'I saw it until the very last moment before the fire engulfed the aircraft.' When the aeroplane crashed, its door flew open, which allowed the pilot and rescue crews to get everybody out, he said. Those with injuries were taken to Wau's hospital for treatment, said Youngule. The plane, an Antonov 26, carried 44 passengers and had five crew members, said Youngule. On social media, images appeared of the plane with smoke billowing from the wrecked fuselage. UN peacekeepers worked with local emergency workers to evacuate passengers from the plane, according to David Shearer, head of the UN mission in South Sudan. Peacekeepers from Bangladesh, Nepal and China helped in the emergency work, he said. The plane was from South Supreme Airlines, a South Sudanese carrier. It was making a trip from Juba to Wau, in northwestern South Sudan when it crashed. Most of the passengers were South Sudanese with two foreigners, one each from China and Eritrea. Since 2013, South Sudan has been embroiled in a civil war that has killed at least 50,000 people. In late February, a famine was declared in the country and more than 1 million people are at risk of starvation.