New Delhi: Wednesday, February 26, local authorities from Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, said that at least 46 persons were killed and others were injured in a terrible military aircraft crash. The Khartoum information office said that the death count increased following the attack and characterised the situation as a sad one.
The accident victims include soldiers and civilians. The aeroplane hit a house in Al-Hara 75, Omdurman, and left widespread destruction. Victims of which are being treated at governmental hospitals.
The Sudanese military said the Antonov plane took off Tuesday from Wadi Seidna Air Base, about 22 kilometres north of Khartoum. But the aircraft had a technical malfunction shortly after takeoff and crashed, killing the three. The accident killed the crew members and several senior military officers.
An unnamed military source described the crash as a technical failure. Many senior officers were on board the doomed Cessna, which was carrying four crew members on a military flight. Witnesses said that the plane flew low before it suddenly plunged into a densely populated area and started a giant fire.
According to Sudan News, the victims included a brigadier general, his officers and soldiers, and five civilians. Debris from the plane reportedly struck several residential structures, according to China-based Xinhua News Agency reports. Local volunteer organizations—including the Karari Resistance Committees—said many of the worst-affected were taken straight to the hospital, along with ten bodies, and many others were in critical condition.
This fatal crash adds further tension to the slogan and humanitarian crisis already facing Sudan. Since April 2023, the civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has been in turmoil. The International Organisation for Migration has since tracked more than 29,600 dead due to the violence and well over 15 million displaced from their homes.