CAIRO — A Sudanese military plane crashed in the western Darfur region, killing all 16 people on board including two women and two children, the military said. A Sudanese employee of the World Food Program and his family were among the casualties.
Several officers were also among those killed when the plane went down Thursday evening in the restive region of West Darfur, which has recently witnessed deadly ethnic clashes.
Abeer Atefa, the WFP spokeswoman for the Mideast and North Africa, told The Associated Press on Friday that one of the organization’s Sudanese employees who was on board with his wife and two children, was killed in the crash. The WFP could not release the staff member’s name or or provide details, pending notification of next-of-kin.
The plane, a Russian Antonov An-12, crashed five minutes after taking off from the airport in the town of Genena, according to an army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Amer Mohammed al-Hassan, who posted a statement late Thursday on the official Facebook page of the Sudanese armed forces.
An investigation was underway to determine the cause of the crash, though there were no immediate reports of foul play. Al-Hassan said the casualties included seven troops, three judges and six civilians.
