Five killed in Khartoum plane crash

KHARTOUM, June 2 (AFP) — Five people were killed and almost 30 others injured as a Sudanese commercial airliner crashed on take-off from Khartoum on Thursday, airport authorities said.

“The plane aborted its take-off and crashed at the end of the runway,” an airport official said.

“It had 34 people on board, of whom five died on the spot and the other 29 were injured, some of them seriously.”

All the passengers were Sudanese, the source said, adding that the plane was a Russian-made Antonov.

The plane, belonging to the private firm Marsland which runs a domestic service, was due to fly from the capital to El-Obeid in central Sudan and on to El-Fasher in the troubled western region of Darfur.