WORLD> Africa
Sudanese plane bursts into flames, killing dozens
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-11 06:43

KHARTOUM, Sudan - A Sudanese jetliner landed in a thunderstorm and veered off the runway late Tuesday, bursting into flames and killing dozens of people, Sudanese officials said.


The remains of a Sudanese jetliner smolders after it veered off a runway after landing amid thunderstorms and exploded into flames, at the airport in the capital Khartoum, Sudan late Tuesday, June 10, 2008. Over 200 passengers were aboard the plane when it landed with conflicting initial reports as to the number of casualties. [Agencies]

Official and state media said immediately after the crash that about half the 203 passengers aboard the Airbus A310 had been killed in the crash around 9 pm. But several hours later officials began reporting a lower toll.

The head of medical services at Khartoum airport said on Wednesday the death toll of 120 he gave earlier from a Sudan Airways plane fire was incorrect and that the figure was now at least 28 dead.

Major-General Mohamed Osman Mahjoub said authorities had so far counted 123 survivors from the 217 people on board the plane and that 28 bodies were in the local mortuary. That would leave 66 people unaccounted for.

One flight attendant said the crew had evacuated the passengers from the plane.

"Thank God we were able to get all the passengers out," said Sarrah Faisal, her voice shaking as she spoke to Sudanese TV from a stretcher, wearing a plastic neck-brace. She gave no more details.

A witness at the scene said the plane appeared to have left the runway as it landed at Khartoum International Airport.

Sudanese television footage showed a hellish scene, with orange flames dwarfing firefighters and towering above the shattered fuselage. Ambulances and firetrucks rushed to the scene. Media were kept away from the blaze.

Youssef Ibrahim, director of the Khartoum airport, told Sudanese TV that the plane "landed safely" in Khartoum and the pilot was talking to the control tower and getting further instructions when the accident occurred.

"One of the (plane's) engines exploded and the plane caught fire," Ibrahim said. He said bad weather did not cause the crash, which he blamed on a technical problem.

The Sudanese ambassador to Washington called the weather "very bad" and said the runway was drenched by rain.

The head of Sudanese police, Mohammad Najib, said bad weather "caused the plane to crash land, split into two and catch fire."

"We believe that most of the passengers were able to make it out and escape with their lives," said Najib, without disclosing further details on how they escaped.

But he stressed that officials could not say for sure how many were killed.

The airport was experiencing a thunderstorm and winds about 20 mph at the time of the crash, said Elaine Yang, a meterologist with the San Francisco-based Weather Underground, a private weather service.