A Russian-built cargo plane with passengers on board crashed after taking off from the airport in South Sudan’s capital, killing at least 41 people onboard and on the ground, airport officials told Al Jazeera.
A crew member and a child on board survived, presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny told Reuters news agency. The official death toll was not immediately clear.
Shortly after taking off from Juba airport on Wednesday, the plane came down on the banks of the White Nile river, leaving a tail fin and lumps of fuselage strewn in vegetation close to the water. Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, reporting from Juba, said bad weather was hampering the rescue effort.
“It is raining hard here in Juba, making it difficult to look for more victims. The cargo plane was carrying passengers and it is believed that many of them were not wearing seat belts.”