CORRECTS NUMBER OF FATALITIES IN HEADLINE, FIRST PARA
By Benjamin Takpiny and Seda Sevencan
JUBA, South Sudan (AA) – A commercial plane crashed late Tuesday in South Sudan, killing all 10 people on board, including eight passengers and two pilots, local media reported.
The dead passengers included seven women and one man, according to local newspaper South Sudan News Now.
"News reaching us indicates that a commercial plane has crashed in the town of Pieri in Jonglei state while setting off for [the capital] Juba," Kur Kuol, the director of Juba International Airport, told Anadolu Agency by phone.
He said the South Supreme Airlines flight went down immediately after taking off at 5 p.m. local time (1500GMT).
The plane crashed in a region where there is no network coverage, so it was difficult to confirm the exact number of casualties, the official added.
This is the second such incident reported involving an aircraft operated by the regional airline. The first occurred in 2017, when a South Supreme Airlines plane caught fire and made a crash landing, but there were no fatalities.
South Supreme Airlines could not be reached for comment on the latest incident.
