On Wednesday morning, the Soviet era Antonov-12 pummeled into a grove of fruit trees on the sparsely populated east side of the Nile river, according to witnesses at the scene of the crash.
The exact number of people on board the flight was unclear but Bloom Gist was told that at least 25 people have been confirmed dead
The exact number of people on board the flight was unclear but Bloom Gist was told that at least 25 people have been confirmed dead
Minister of Transportation Kuong, Danhier Gatluak, said that 36 people were killed, and more may be unaccounted for. Authorities are investigating the cause.
Presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said the plane was heading for the Paloich oil fields in the country's north.
Ateny said there were 18 people on board the aircraft when it crashed, including 12 South Sudanese, and six members of an Armenian and Russian crew.
He said three South Sudanese survived, including an infant, and 10 more people were killed on the ground.
Ateny said the company was illegally carrying passengers on a cargo flight.
"It is the problem for the company now to address," he said.
He said a local businessman chartered the flight, but had no more information.
Bodies were found on the muddy riverside along with the craft's cargo, rubber flip flops, medicine, tires, and cans of beer and energy drinks.
Barefoot responders gathered the sandals and wore them to be able to access the uninhabited, swampy crash site.
The front of the fuselage was destroyed. Wings were torn off with propellers mangled in the mud.
Only the tail, marked with the logo of Allied Services Limited, a Tajikstan charter company operating in South Sudan, was intact.
Witnesses who live near the crash site said no one was on the ground where the plane hit, contradicting the presidential spokesman.
"Trapped in one place"
Ismail Ibrahim Mohamed, a farmer whose house is closest to the crash site, said he heard a loud noise and came running to the scene after the crash.
"We saw the plane as if it was landing, and there was nowhere to run," he said.
Mohamed said a tree stopped a tire from hitting his children who were sleeping.
Kenyi Galla, an operations manager for charter company Combined Air Services which had a staff member on board, said the plane was overloaded.
Security officials at Juba International Airport force cargo crews to take passengers on board, he said.
"I see it every day. I work in the airport," he said while searching for his colleague's body. "They use military force to put their wives and kids on."
Source: Bloom Gist and Agencies
