 A Sudanese military plane has crashed at the airport in the southern town of Awil killing all seven crew and 13 others on board, officials said. "Twenty people were killed - seven crew and 13 others, soldiers," said an army spokesman in Khartoum.
| "Nobody important. Really. Not this time." |
He said it was an Antonov 29 plane that caught fire and exploded. A senior southern army official said the plane crashed on landing at the airport on Saturday when the front tyre of the plane burst. "When landing the front tyre burst and they couldn't control the plane so it hit a building near the airport," said Elias Waya Nyipuocs, a senior official in the south Sudanese army. He added the plane then caught fire. He could not confirm that the plane had exploded.
| "Caught fire, exploded, what's the diffo? They're all dead." |
Sudan has a history of frequent air crashes, often involving cargo planes. Old Russian planes are used throughout the country for both military and commercial flights.
| Let's rewrite that last paragraph: Sudan has a history of frequent air crashes, often involving VIPs who aren't needed anymore. Old Russian planes are used throughout the country for both military and commercial flights, with just about the level of maintenance you'd expect in a country run by Arabs. |
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