Sudanese plane crash crisis: 115 killed, one child survives
Sudan, Local, 7/9/2003

Some 115 Sudanese were killed including the commander of the air defense forces in Port Sudan province in a plane crash for the Sudanese airlines in eastern Sudan. This plane incident is the worst in Sudan since 1947. An infant baby survived the incident.

The spokesman for the Sudanese government, Abdul Hami Abdeen, said that the pilot indicated "technical problems" just 10 minutes after the Boeing 737 plane took off from Port Sudan airport on the Red Sea on Wednesday morning. He told the observatory tower that he is trying to return back to the airport. However, the plane which was heading for Khartoum at 650 Km to the south west crashed according to the spokesman at a distance of 18 Km from the airport.

The official explained that the plane was very close to the sea, stressing that he does not know whether the pilot was trying a forced landing in the sea. He said that the incident did not lead to casualties on the ground. Officials at the Sudanese airlines company said the frame of the plane burnt and most of the bodies also.

Officials at the Sudanese airlines said that this plane was the only one owned by the government while other planes in its fleets are rented.

A spokesman for the Sudanese airlines said that an infant called Muhammad al-Fateh is the only one who survived and had lost one of his legs, rather than the female baby Leina Abdullah ( two year old) which the company stated she had survived.

The Sudanese airline list showed that 8 foreigners were among the passengers: three Indians, one British, one Chinese, one Ethiopian and one citizen from the United Arab Emirates. and that the list includes 17 children.

The Sudanese TV said that the 11 member crew of the plane were also among the victims of the plane crisis, including among them the governor of Sankar and member at the national council in Khartoum.

The spokesman also said that chairman of the air defense force in Port Sudan Nour al-Huda Fadlullah was also among the victims.

In Washington, the US Department Of State announced replying to Sudan's accusations that the American policy is responsible for the plane crash, saying that the American sanctions imposed on Sudan do not allow providing spare parts to plane, should Sudan apply for that.

The spokesman for the US Department Of State, Philip Reecker, said although Sudan and other countries, accused of sponsoring terrorism are subjected to American sanctions, it is, however, possible to give a special license in selected cases to export service commodities and technology to ensuring the safety of air transport and the American made commercial planes. Sudanese foreign minister Mustafa Othman Ismael said the American sanctions imposed on Sudan was responsible for the plane incident. He stressed that the crashed plane had not undergone maintenance in five to 7 years because of lack of spare parts.

Previous Stories:
  Alwan: Some 35 Sudanese looters killed   (6/3/2003)
  Some 18 foreigners arrested in Sudan, carrying out military exercises   (5/30/2003)
  Four Sudanese killed in protests against revenge crime in Port Sudan   (1/8/2003)

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