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| Africa Horn |
| Sudanese jetliner bursts into flames, killing 100 |
| 2008-06-10 |
| KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — A Sudanese jetliner landed in a thunderstorm and veered off the runway late Tuesday, bursting into flames and killing about 100 people, Sudanese officials said. Over 200 passengers were aboard the plane, officials said, and a higher casualty toll was feared. An Associated Press reporter 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 around 9 p.m., said Elaine Yang, a meterologist with the San Francisco-based Weather Underground, a private weather service. Raqeeb Abdel-Latif, head of the Sudan Airways office in Damascus, Syria, said the plane was a Sudan Airbus-310 that joined the Sudanese national carrier fleet seven months ago. It took off from Damascus with 203 passengers on board, mostly Africans and a few non-Sudanese nationals and 14 crew members. It stopped in Amman, where 34 additional passengers came on board. Due to inclement weather, the aircraft stopped at Port Sudan Airport along the Red Sea picking up 35 passengers and refueling before heading back, Sudanese Ambassador John Ukec Lueth Ukec said in Washington. Upon arrival the weather was "still very bad," said Ukec. "There was a lot of water on the runway and they still tried to land." Most of the passengers were believed to be Sudanese, with some foreigners among them, the ambassador said. The Airports head comment caught my attention. How often do engines on brand new planes just explode. Could be terrorism. |
| Posted by:phil_b |
| #1 which southern leader was on the plane? Why was it necessary to kill him? Think back about plane wrecks and Sudan. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2008-06-10 19:07 |