/ 8 July 2003

Boeing crashes in Sudan: 115 dead

A total of 115 people were killed when an airliner of the national flag-carrier Sudan Airways crashed in eastern Sudan early on Tuesday, state-owned Radio Omdurman reported.

A two-year-old child was the only survivor of the crash, which happened at around 4:00 a.m. (0100 GMT), the radio said, quoting a government official.

The Boeing 737 had taken off from Port Sudan on the Red Sea and turned back after the pilot reported an unspecified problem. It crashed while attempting to land again, the report added.

The occupants of the plane included 11 crew members.

”The plane took off this morning. Minutes later the pilot contacted (airport officials) to say there were difficulties and that he would return to the airport in Port Sudan,” the minister of state for aviation, Mohammed Hassan al-Bahi, was quoted by the

radio as saying.

”The plane crashed while trying to land at the airport,” he told the radio.

Bahi said that he would travel to Port Sudan to investigate the reasons behind the crash. – Sapa-AFP