By : Lloyd Mahachi 

At least 20 people lost their lives in a plane crash in the north of South Sudan, Unity state’s minister for information said.

The aircraft descended near the oil fields in Unity state at about 10:30 am (08:30 GMT) shortly after taking off for the capital, Juba, on Wednesday.

“The plane crashed 500 meters away from the airport. There were 21passengers on board. As for now, there’s only one survivor,” Gatwech Bipal said.

The passengers are employees of the Greater Pioneer Operating Company, 16 South Sudanese, two Chinese nationals, and 1 Indian.

Bipal added that the aircraft was on a standard operation within the area.

Earlier, the United Nations’s Radio Miraya reported that the pilot and co-pilot were among those killed.

Pictures shared on social media showed the crumpled aircraft upside down in a field, debris spread across the area.

It’s common for planes to carry excess weight in South Sudan, and was believed to have contributed to the 2015 crash of an Antonov plane in Juba that killed 36 people.

In 2021 five people were killed after a cargo plane carrying fuel for the UN’s World Food Programme crashed near Juba.

Editor : Josephine Mahachi