Cargo plane crash in Sudan leaves seven dead with one survivor

June 29, 2008 An  has crashed North of  capital, Sudan. Seven crewmembers were killed but an eighth escaped injury.

The aircraft, owned and operated by, had departed at 5:55 am (0255 GMT) and was an hour and ten minutes into its flight towards. Juba is the capital of Southern Sudan.

(CAA) spokesman Abdel Hafiz spoke with AFP, and told them "One person survived out of eight. His name is Mohamed Hamza, a Sudanese. Two Sudanese were among the dead (as were) four from Ukraine and one from Armenia," he said, adding "A thunderstorm hit the plane, as the survivor said, one of the crew. This apparently is the cause. The survivor is not injured but was taken to hospital (as a precaution)."

Those killed were removed from the wreckage and flown back to a Khartoum morgue.

The (SMC), which is thought to be tied to the intelligence services, said the aircraft had returned to Sudan recently after major maintenance work in the United Arab Emirates. The SMC also agreed with he nationalities of the deceased, adding that one of the Sudanese was the pilot-in-command.

It said the surviving air operations officer had said the plane was struck twice by lightning. It also said the plane had been talking to in Khartoum at the time to request permission to reduce altitude to avoid the worst of the storm.

Major General Abdubaker Jafar, manager of the CAA, was quoted by the SMC as praising the quick emergency response, which was conducted with three helicopters owned by local companies.