| New York Times | - |
NAIROBI,
Kenya - A cargo plane also carrying soldiers and civilians crashed
Wednesday along the banks of the Nile minutes after taking off from
South Sudan's capital, Juba, killing most of those on board, according
to United Nations and government ...
Incredible moment miracle baby is pulled alive from the wreckage of Russian cargo plane which crashed shortly after take-off in South Sudan, killing 41 others
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
- Antonov-12 cargo aircraft crashed along the banks of a river around a mile from the airport in the war-torn country
- Death toll ranged from 25 to more than 40 as humanitarian workers and investigators began combing the crash site
- Witnesses said a child, who was no more than a year old, and an elderly woman were pulled out alive from fuselage
- 44-year-old aircraft was reportedly carrying 18 people along with the cargo, but was only designed to hold 12
- Comes days after Russian holiday jet crashed in Egypt killing 224 people amid fears it was targeted in terror attack
- For more of the latest on the Russian plane crash visit www.dailymail.co.uk/russia
This
is the astonishing moment a baby was pulled alive from the wreckage of a
cargo plane which crashed in South Sudan, killing up to 41 people.
The
boy was plucked from the mangled fuselage after the aircraft came down
near a river, scattering debris and bodies across remote farmland.
He was one of only two survivors pulled from the crash, but the other one later died.
The
Russian-made Antonov-12 aircraft crashed along the banks of the White
Nile River this morning barely a mile from the airport in the capital
Juba.
Scroll down for video
Miracle: Rescuers carry a baby who was
pulled from the wreckage of a cargo plane that crashed in South Sudan,
killing dozens of people
South Sudanese officials cross the
river in a boat to take an injured man and baby to hospital from the
crashed Russian cargo plane in Juba
Horror: Locals gather at the site
where a cargo plane crashed in South Sudan shortly after taking off from
Juba airport, killing at least 25 people
Witnesses say
bodies, including those of children, were strewn among the wreckage
which was scattered in a wooded area along the Nile River
Amid
conflicting reports, the death toll ranged from 25 to 41 as humanitarian
workers and investigators began combing the crash site.
The
plane, which had been bound for the Paloich oil fields in Upper Nile
state, was registered in Tajikistan and belonged to Allied Services
Limited, said Ateny Wek Ateny, a spokesman for South Sudanese President
Salva Kiir.
A spokesman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Tigran Mkrtchian, confirmed five Armenian crew members died.
Besides the five Armenians, a Russian crew member also died, Ateny said.
He
said 10 people on the ground were killed. But witnesses and first
responders said no one had been present in the swampy farm plot when the
plane came down.
Disaster: Presidential spokesman Ateny
Wek Ateny said the plane had been bound for the Paloch oil fields in
Upper Nile state when it crashed
Destroyed: The scene of a cargo airplane that crashed after take-off near Juba Airport in South Sudan killing at least 25 people
Shocking: Packages of sandals,
cigarettes, beer and crackers were strewn amid the bodies and wreckage
of the Russian-built cargo plane
Officials investigate the scene of a cargo plane that crashed after take-off near Juba Airport in South Sudan on Wednesday
Obliterated: The crash site was just 800 metres from the runway it took off from in the South Sudanese capital of Juba
'There
were 12 passengers and six crew members, including five Armenians and
one Russian, on board the AN-12 plane that crashed in South Sudan,' Mr
Atney said, adding that all passengers were Sudanese.
A Ukrainian diplomat in Kenya said five Russians were on the aircraft.
'It
is known that the plane belonged to a private company and was
Russian-made. The cargo plane was carrying out a transportation request
of some oil company.
'According
to preliminary data, 12 people were on board. Five of them were Russian
citizens, the nationality of the rest is being determined,' said third
secretary Alexander Kalinchuk.
Mr
Ateny said the plane had been bound for the Paloich oil fields in Upper
Nile state, where rebels and government forces have been battling for
control.
Bashir
Yashin, who saw the plane come down, said it seemed as though the plane
might crash into a market area before the pilot apparently diverted.
A Russian-made Antonov-12 cargo plane like the one which crashed in South Sudan
Downed: The cargo plane was heading
to Paloch in Upper Nile State when it crashed just 800 metres from Juba
International Airport runway
Russian
TV channel LifeNews quoted an unnamed source at the Russian aviation
agency as saying the plane appeared to have been overloaded and that it
was made in the Soviet Union in 1971.
Officials
said the plane belonged to freight and logistics firm Allied Services
Ltd, but staff at the firm could not immediately be reached for comment.
'We
have rushed to the site of crash which is located near the airport,
southeast of Juba International Airport (across) the river,' said the
chief executive of the Civil Aviation Authority at Juba airport, Stephen
Warikozi.
'We
have secured the site of crash and also we are in the stage of
recovering bodies and the black box,' he said. 'We are still now
recovering the dead bodies and we cannot give you the exact number.'
It
is common for the security services to put family members on the cargo
planes to Paloich even if they are not on the manifest, according to
Kenyi Galla, assistant operations manager for Combined Air Services, a
company that operates chartered flights across South Sudan.
The doomed flight was not chartered by his company, Mr Galla said.
Juba international airport (above)
hosts regular commercial flights, as well as a constant string of
military aircraft and cargo planes delivering aid to remote regions cut
off by road
'Normally
(this flight) used to carry 12 people, but the problem is they added
more people,' he said. 'This plane is just for cargo, not for
passengers. It was just chartered for goods.'
The UN Mission in South Sudan was providing assistance to an emergency operation at the crash site of an An-12 cargo plane.
After the crash, planes were still taking off and landing at the airport.
Many
parts of South Sudan, which became an independent nation in 2011, have
been hit by violence since December 2013, with government forces under
President Salva Kiir battling rebels led by his former deputy, Riek
Machar.
Fighting persists despite a peace agreement signed in August.
The disaster comes just days after a Russian Metrojet passenger plane crashed in Egypt killing all 224 people on board.
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