Apparently all of those killed had been on the plane, local residents said, which crashed into a swampy, muddy farm plot in Juba with no structures.
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A spokesman for Antonov in Kiev said the company was now in contact with the aviation authorities of Tajikistan, believing they were responsible for the plane’s upkeep. He said two passengers – not three as another official had reported – were pulled alive from the wreckage.
According to AP, a presidential spokesperson said 10 people on the ground were killed by the crash, but witnesses contradicted this information, saying there was no one at the site where the plane crashed.
Russian and Egyptian sources tracking the examination of the two black boxes found evidence that the calamity occurred too rapidly for the pilots or crew to send an SOS or even say a few words.
“For the time being, no Russian airline that provides freight transportation in the region has confirmed the crash of the airplane”.
Only the tail, marked with the logo of Allied Services Limited, a Tajikstan charter company operating in South Sudan, was intact.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission, which is based close to the airport, said it was aiding the search and recovery operation, and had provided ambulances and troops to help.
Mohamed said a tree stoped a tire from hitting his children who were sleeping.
After the crash, planes could still be seen taking off and arriving at the airport in Juba. He said all the others on the flight were South Sudanese. “I work in the airport”, he said while searching for his colleague’s body. “They use military force to put their wives and kids on”.
Juba, the capital, has been peaceful recently. “This plane is just for cargo, not for passengers”.
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South Sudan, the world’s newest country, is in the midst of a brutal and drawn-out civil war, which began shortly after the country formed in 2011. But he denounced the proposal by Salva Kiir to increase the number of states in South Sudan to 28, calling it a breach of the peace agreement signed in August.
