KHARTOUM, June 10 (Xinhua) -- A senior Sudanese official announced that some 20 passengers went missing while other passengers and all crew members were rescued in a plane crash at the Khartoum International Airport Tuesday evening.
Fatih Mohammed Said, minister of state in the Sudanese Ministry of Transport, Roads and Bridges, told reporters that among the 203 passengers aboard, 183 people, including 14 crewmen, managed to escape from the burning plane while 20 others went missing.
This photo shows the plane that burst into fierce flame at the Sudan's Khartoum International Airport Tuesday evening, June 10, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Said said that plane, an Airbus 310, had been scheduled to arrive at Khartoum on Tuesday afternoon but was forced to fly to Sudan Port due to bad weather condition in the Sudanese capital.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Najib Taib, director general of the Sudanese Police, said that the police and the Civil Aviation Authority had formed a joint committee to conduct investigations into the incident.
The plane flew back to Khartoum on Tuesday evening after the weather improved, he said.
This photo shows the plane that burst into fierce flame at the Sudan's Khartoum International Airport Tuesday evening, June 10, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
The state-run Sudan Television reported earlier that 100 passengers were killed in the plane crash.
The television showed film of the aircraft ablaze in the darkness while emergency workers were playing water hoses on the burning fuselage.
The blaze appeared to be consuming the fuselage and cockpit area and the emergency escape chutes could be seen deployed at the side of the aircraft.
The aircraft burst into flames after sliding off a runway at the airport, said the report, adding that ambulances arrived at the scene.
