Plane crash kills 19 in South Sudan

JUBA: Nineteen people were killed when a small plane crashed into a lake in the centre of South Sudan, while four people including two children survived, a regional official said.

Regional information minister for the Eastern Lakes state Taban Abel Aguek yesterday said the plane, carrying 23 people, had crashed in the central town of Yirol as it came in to land.

“The number of people we have confirmed dead is 19 and four survived,” said Abel, adding that two children were among the survivors, as was an Italian citizen.

Abel said the Anglican Bishop of Yirol, Simon Adut, was confirmed among the dead.

The Italian non-governmental organisation NGO Medici con Africa Cuamm wrote on its website that an Italian doctor named Damiano Cantone, who had been on his way to work at a children’s hospital in Yirol, was among the survivors.

The pilot and co-pilot, a staff

The whole town is in shock, the shops are closed and some people have buried their relatives. Taban Abel Aguek

member with the International Committee of the Red Cross, a Ugandan who runs a private clinic in Yirol, a government official and two army officers were also confirmed dead.

“The whole town is in shock, the shops are closed and some people have buried their relatives. It is a commercial plane that crashed,” Abel said.

“When the plane was landing the weather was foggy and this was not a good situation for landing.” —