Twenty people, including foreigners, died in South Sudan on Wednesday when a small aircraft carrying oil workers from the Unity oilfields of Rubkona County in Unity State to Juba Airport crashed at 10:30 AM local time, State Information Minister Gatwech Bipal told Radio Tamazuj.
“The plane crashed and killed 19 people, including two pilots and two Chinese nationals,” Bipal told Radio Tamazuj by phone from Bentiu. The number was later changed to twenty fatalities, according to information on Aviation Safety Network.
According to the local official, the Beechcraft 1900D aircraft, with registration 5X-RHB and hired by the GPOC oil firm, carried a total of 21 people on board, including two pilots.
Minister Bipal explained that authorities confirmed that 17 of the deaths were South Sudanese and two were Chinese nationals.
Two of the survivors, a South Sudanese and an Indian man, are in critical condition and have been taken to a hospital for treatment, the state minister said.
“The plane was carrying oilfield employees who were going on leave after spending 28 days at their workplace. Details will follow later after we receive more information from the GPOC [Greater Pioneer Operating Company] and the aviation company,” he concluded.
