The plane was reduced to small pieces in the crash, leaving 20 dead, including the pilot and co-pilot, in South Sudan. One survivor was reported.
South Sudan – A small aircraft carrying oil workers crashed in South Sudan’s Unity State on Wednesday, resulting in the deaths of 20 people, according to local officials.
The crash occurred at the Unity oilfield airport on Wednesday morning as the plane was en route to the capital, Juba, said Gatwech Bipal, Unity State’s information minister.
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“The plane crashed 500 metres from the airport… 21 people were on board. As for now, there’s only one survivor,” Gatwech Bipal Both told AFP news agency.
All of the passengers – 16 South Sudanese, two Chinese nationals and 1 Indian – are employees of he Greater Pioneer Operating Company (GPOC).
Bipal added that the aircraft was on a routine mission to the area.
Initial media reports suggested 18 fatalities, but Bipal later clarified that two survivors had succumbed to their injuries, bringing the death toll to 20. One individual was reported to have survived.
The cause of the crash remains unclear, and further details have not been released. South Sudan has experienced several air crashes in recent years, a consequence of its ongoing instability. In September 2018, at least 19 people died when a small aircraft crashed while traveling from Juba to the city of Yirol.
Additionally, in 2015, dozens of people were killed when a Russian-built cargo plane with passengers on board crashed shortly after taking off from Juba’s airport.
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