UPDATE – Plane crash in South Sudan leaves 12 people dead

CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE, ADDS NUMBER OF FATALITIES

By Benjamin Takpiny and Tufan Aktas

JUBA, South Sudan (AA) – A commercial plane crashed late Tuesday in South Sudan, killing 12 people on board, including 10 passengers and two pilots, local media reported.

"News reaching us indicates that a commercial plane has crashed in the town of Pieri in Jonglei state while setting off for 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 and it is 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.

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