21 killed in Sudan plane crash

Southern Sudan’s defence minister and a presidential adviser were killed along with 19 others when their plane crashed today.

All 19 passengers and two crew members were killed when the plane went down in the remote Bahr Gazal region of southern Sudan, state-run SUNA news agency reported.

Minister of Defence Dominic Dim Deng and Justin Yak, an adviser to the southern Sudan president, were among the dead.

SUNA said the pilot radioed a control tower in the city of Rumbek just before the crash, requesting permission to land because one of the engines had technical problems. A few minutes later, the tower lost contact with the plane.

A UN-operated radio station that broadcasts in the area, Mireya FM, reported the plane belonged to the Southern Sudan Air Connection company.

Emergency workers were en route to the scene, and the United Nations sent a helicopter to assist in rescue efforts, the station reported.