South Sudan Plane Crash Kills 1, Injures 3

Kuol said the 12-seater caravan departed Juba destined for Mandeng in Ulang County of Upper Nile State, but the pilot mistakenly landed in Mading before taking off to correct course and an engine caught fire. Authorities said the plane crashed into a building on its way down.

"He landed safely. After some time, they discovered it was the wrong location so they decided to go to real location at Mandeng. So the plane decided to take off at 1:50pm. After takeoff, the pilot learned there was smoke in one engine," Kuol told VOA's South Sudan in Focus program.

The pilot crash-landed the plane, Kuol said, after seeing the smoke, adding that he was able to evacuate six of the seven passengers, but one elderly woman did not make it out alive and was burned to death.

"The plane was totally burned. The investigation is the one to exactly tell what the problem was really. We are waiting for a report from the pilot," Kuol said.

Minister of Information in Upper Nile Luke Shadallah Deng confirmed the incident and said a boy was critically wounded when the plane crashed into a building shortly after takeoff from the Mading airstrip.

"I called the commissioner and commissioner gave all the information. The information is that one lady has passed away and three are injured. Four houses have been damaged and one school. One boy's health is dangerous," Deng said.

The small 5Y-BMZ plane is owned by 7 White Star Company.

Last month, a cargo plane heading to Langkien in Upper Nile crashed five minutes after take off from Juba International Airport. All three passengers and two crew members on board survived.

In 2021, a cargo plane crashed in Juba, killing all five crew members on board. Last year, 10 people died in a plane crash in Jonglei State.

South Sudan aviation authorities say the high number of plane crashes is due to the use of outdated aircraft and overloaded planes.