London Lass
06-10-2008, 05:13 PM
'Many dead' in Sudan jet inferno
A passenger plane has burst into flames after crashing at the main airport in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
State television says more than 100 people on board have been killed.
Witnesses said the plane, thought to be carrying about 200 passengers, crashed after veering off the runway while attempting to land during a storm.
The plane was engulfed in flames but witnesses said they had seen some passengers escaping via emergency chutes after they deployed.
Sudanese television said Khartoum hospitals were treating a large number of injured people.
Sudanese officials said it was a Sudan Airways flight from the Jordanian capital Amman via Damascus, Syria.
Wreckage ablaze
The witnesses said the fire appeared to start in the plane's right engine before spreading throughout the plane.
Television footage showed the wreckage ablaze as emergency workers tried to fight the fire in the darkness.
The BBC's Amber Henshaw, in Khartoum, says there was a sandstorm and heavy rain at the time of the crash, at approximately 2000 (1700 GMT).
Bad weather "caused the plane to crash land, split into two and catch fire," Associated Press news agency quoted local police official Mohammad Najib as saying.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7447243.stm
A passenger plane has burst into flames after crashing at the main airport in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
State television says more than 100 people on board have been killed.
Witnesses said the plane, thought to be carrying about 200 passengers, crashed after veering off the runway while attempting to land during a storm.
The plane was engulfed in flames but witnesses said they had seen some passengers escaping via emergency chutes after they deployed.
Sudanese television said Khartoum hospitals were treating a large number of injured people.
Sudanese officials said it was a Sudan Airways flight from the Jordanian capital Amman via Damascus, Syria.
Wreckage ablaze
The witnesses said the fire appeared to start in the plane's right engine before spreading throughout the plane.
Television footage showed the wreckage ablaze as emergency workers tried to fight the fire in the darkness.
The BBC's Amber Henshaw, in Khartoum, says there was a sandstorm and heavy rain at the time of the crash, at approximately 2000 (1700 GMT).
Bad weather "caused the plane to crash land, split into two and catch fire," Associated Press news agency quoted local police official Mohammad Najib as saying.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7447243.stm