Aviation

10.6, crash, fatalities

Sudan: a Sudanese jetliner landed in a thunderstorm and veered off the runway, bursting into flames and killing 120 people. Over 200 passengers were on board the aircraft and a higher casualty toll was feared. A reporter at the scene said the aircraft appeared to have left the runway as it landed at Khartoum International Airport. The aircraft, reportedly “landed safely” in Khartoum and the pilot was talking to the control tower and getting further instructions when the accident occurred. One of the engines exploded and the plane caught fire. The aircraft was a Sudan Airbus-310 that joined the Sudanese national carrier fleet seven months before. It took off from Damascus with 203 passengers on board, mostly Africans and a few non-Sudanese nationals and 14 crew members. It stopped in Amman, where 34 additional passengers came on board.