Published on : Monday, September 10, 2018
Regional information minister for the Eastern Lakes state Taban Abel Aguek said the plane, carrying 23 people, crashed in the central town of Yirol as it came in to land.
“The number of people we have confirmed dead is 19 people and four people survived,” said Abel, adding that two children were among the survivors, as was an Italian citizen.
Abel said the Anglican Bishop of Yirol, Simon Adut, was confirmed among the dead.
The Italian non-governmental organisation Medici con Africa Cuamm wrote on its website that an Italian doctor named Damiano Cantone, who had been on his way to work at a children’s hospital in Yirol, was among the survivors.
The UN broadcaster Radio Miraya had earlier reported him dead.
The pilot and co-pilot, a staff member with the International Committee of the Red Cross, a Ugandan who runs a private clinic in Yirol, a government official and two army officers were also confirmed dead.
Radio Miraya posted a picture on its Twitter account of the twisted wreckage of the plane submerged in water.
Overloading of planes is common in South Sudan, and this was believed to have contributed to the 2015 crash of a Soviet-era Antonov plane upon takeoff in Juba which left 36 people dead.
Tags: small plane crashed