Plane crashes in Khartoum

June 10, 2008 A plane arriving in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, burst into flames after veering off the runway during a thunderstorm. Around 100 passengers and crew are feared dead.

The jetliner is said to have careened off of the runway in the process of landing. The Sudanese head of police, Mohammad Najib, cited a crash landing due to bad weather as the cause of the accident. Najib said that the plane split in two and burst into flames.

The plane was carrying approximately 203 passengers and 14 crew from Amman, Jordan. Sudanese officials have said it was a Sudan Airways flight (SD 109) from the Jordanian capital Amman via Damascus, Syria. It had previously been diverted to Port Sudan due to heavy rain in Khartoum.