All three crew members were killed in the incident, a representative of the humanitarian group has said
An aircraft carrying food supplies for the humanitarian group Samaritan’s Purse went down in South Sudan’s Unity State on Tuesday, Aviation Safety Network (ASN) has reported.
The aircraft crashed roughly 20km (around 12 miles) from the Leer Airstrip, in oil-producing Leer County near the Sudanese border, at approximately 8am local time (06:00 GMT).
The plane, operated by Nari Air, had departed from Juba with about two tons of aid destined for communities displaced by severe flooding, according to Reuters.
Samaritan’s Purse deputy director in South Sudan, Bikram Rai, told the news agency that the incident left all three crew members dead. He added that the supplies were intended for people in urgent need.
Response teams have reached the crash site, Rai confirmed to Reuters.
Nari Air, which is based in South Sudan and provides various services, including cargo and passenger charters, has yet to release an official statement. The company has not shared any information at this stage regarding the type of aircraft involved or the circumstances surrounding the crash.
The landlocked country gained independence from war-torn Sudan in 2011, and has remained unstable since the end of a five-year civil war that erupted in 2013 over a feud between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and South Sudan’s first vice president, Riek Machar.
South Sudan experiences frequent and severe flooding, a situation that has worsened in recent years due to climate change. According to UNICEF, hundreds of thousands of people – between 750,000 and more than one million each year – are affected by floods, many of whom are forced to leave their homes.
South Sudan has experienced several serious aviation accidents in recent years. This past January, a Beechcraft 1900 aircraft operated by Eagle Air and carrying oil workers crashed shortly after takeoff in Unity State, killing 20 out of 21 on board.
In March 2021, a Supreme Airlines aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff in the state of Jonglei, killing all ten people on board, including both pilots.
