Eight die in South Sudan salary cargo plane crash

A cargo plane transporting money for the UN’s World Food Programme has crashed near the South Sudanese capital, Juba, killing eight of the nine people on board, the authorities say.

Four of the dead from Saturday morning’s crash were South Sudanese, two were from Tajikistan and the other was from Ukraine, President Salva Kiir said in a condolence message.

The survivor is being treated in hospital.

“We are all deeply saddened and equally distressed for the families of those who lost their lives in this tragic accident,” the president wrote.

The crash happened shortly after take off from Juba International Airport.

The plane, an Antonov 36 was chartered by Opportunity Bank to carry salaries for WFP staff in Wau, the capital of Western Bahr El-Ghazal state.

“I have been told the figure was $35,000 (£26,700). This is the money lost as the plane crashed and burnt to ashes,” Madut Biar Yel, South Sudan’s Transport Minister, told the BBC’s Nichola Mandil in Juba.

A committee has been set up to investigate the incident, he added.

BBC.COM