Southern Sudan plane crash kills 14

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 8, 2004 (PANA) — Fourteen people died instantly and four others sustained serious injuries when their light aircraft crashed in the southern Sudanese village of Jiech, aid workers reported here Friday.

The pilot of the plane, believed to be a New Zealander survived the crash but his co-pilot, whose identity could not be immediately determined, died in the crash that occurred at Jiech in the western Upper Nile.

The plane, believed to be a Czech-designed Let-410 twin-engine turboprop, with a passenger capacity of 19, crashed shortly after take-off from an airstrip in Jiech.

Relief workers employed by the International Committee of the Red Cross in the region said that while the plane crashed on Thursday afternoon, they only managed to access the region early Friday.

“We flew in this (Friday) morning and found four wounded persons, including the pilot we believe was from New Zealand who were evacuated, the co-pilot having been killed in the accident,” said ICRC delegate Rob Drouen.

An aid worker who sought anonymity confirmed that 14 passengers had been killed in the plane crash, while four others were injured.

Earlier reports indicated the dead were mostly children and a teacher. However, the cause of the crash has not yet been established. Sudanese authorities locked up in a bloody conflict with rebels fighting in the western Darfur region could not be reached for comment.