No deaths reported in plane crash at Yida Airstrip in Ruweng

The Director General of Juba International Airport (JIA) Kur Kuol on Tuesday blamed bad weather for the cargo plane crash-landed at Yida Airstrip located in Pariang County of Ruweng Administrative Area.
The wreckage of the Antonov 26 plane is seen on fire at Yida Airstrip. (Courtesy photo)

By Awan Achiek

The Director General of Juba International Airport (JIA) Kur Kuol on Tuesday blamed bad weather for the cargo plane crash-landed at Yida Airstrip located in Pariang County of Ruweng Administrative Area.

Kuol said that the Antonov 26 chartered plane owned by the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) hit a nearby tree and burst into flames after veering off the runway at Yida Airstrip.

He said that all the four crew members and one soldier on board survived the crash.

“It was carrying mixed goods but all the passengers are safe, the plane crash-landed because of poor visibility,” Kuol told Dawn on Tuesday.

He disclosed that the ill-fated plane had taken off from Juba International Airport for Yida at around 6:18 A.M.

South Sudan has witnessed several plane crashes in recent years.

In February 2024, a passenger aircraft operated by Africano Company that was transporting returnees who fled the war in Sudan, crash-landed at Malakal Airport leaving all passengers on board alive. 

In April 2023, a cargo plane carrying passengers crash-landed at Juba International Airport and all the passengers came out unscathed.

On 2 March 2021, a Let L-410 Turbolet of South Sudan Supreme Airlines crashed in Pieri, Uror County on a domestic flight to Yuai Airstrip.

In August 2020, eight people lost their lives, while a single passenger survived with injuries when a cargo plane crashed into a farm in the Kemeru area minutes after it took off from the Juba International Airport.

In 2015, 36 people were killed when a Soviet-era Antonov plane crashed just after takeoff from Juba.

In 2017, 37 people had a miraculous escape after their plane hit a fire truck on a runway in Wau before bursting into flames.

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