At least 10 people, including the two pilots, died when a plane crashed on Tuesday at an airstrip in South Sudan’s Jonglei state, the region’s governor said.
“It was with great shock and horror to receive the news of the plane crash (HK-4274) of South Sudan Supreme Airline that happened today the 2nd day of March 2021 at around 5.05 PM at Pieri Airstrip,” Governor Denay Jock Chagor said in a statement sent to AFP news agency on Wednesday.
“Ten people including the two pilots lost their lives,” Chagor said, adding that the flight was bound for the capital Juba.
Several planes have crashed in recent years in South Sudan, a country emerging from a ruinous civil war that broke out in 2013, two years after it gained independence from Sudan.
The latest crash is the second such incident reported involving an aircraft operated by the same regional airline.
The first occurred in 2017 when a South Sudan Supreme Airlines plane caught fire and made a crash landing, but there were no fatalities.
In August 2020, a cargo plane belonging to a local operator – South West Aviation – crashed near Juba, killing four passengers and three crew members.
In 2015, 36 people were killed when a Soviet-era Antonov plane crashed just after takeoff from Juba.
At least 19 people were killed in 2018 when a small aircraft carrying passengers from Juba to the city of Yirol crashed.
