A precise death toll continues to elude Sudanese officials following a fiery jet crash, and one reason could be that many passengers fled the scene after making it out of the wreckage.
Dozens of passengers reportedly were killed when the Sudan Airways jet en route from Jordan split in two and burst into flames after landing in thunderstorms and veering off a runway at an airport in the capital city of Khartoum, according to Sudanese officials and local media.
More than half of the 214 people on board were able to escape but authorities say it is still unclear how many died in the inferno.
The Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that at least 103 passengers and all 11 crew members survived, according to the Associated Press, but officials may have missed other survivors who went home directly after the crash.
The head of Sudanese police, Mohammad Najib, said bad weather had caused the crash, however, Youssef Ibrahim, director of the Khartoum airport, saying a technical problem was to blame.
An investigation was under way Wednesday to discover what caused the jet to veer off the runway.
The jet — which originated in Damascus, Syria, and was flying from Amman, Jordan — was landing in heavy rains and thunderstorms. The plane already had tried to land at the Khartoum Airport once, but wasn't able to due to the weather.
"We believe that most of the passengers were able to make it out and escape with their lives," said Najib, without disclosing further details on how they escaped.
He stressed that officials could not say exactly how many were killed, and it could take some time before a definitive cause and specific details of the crash are known.
Earlier reports put the death toll at 100, which would make it the deadliest crash since July 2007, when a Tam Linhas Aereas SA jetliner Airbus 320 skidded off runway while landing in Sao Paulo, Brazil, killing all 187 people on board and 12 on the ground.
Sudan has a poor aviation safety record. In May, a plane crash in a remote area of southern Sudan killed 24 people, including key members of the southern Sudanese government.
In July 2003, a Sudan Airways Boeing 737 en route from Port Sudan to Khartoum crashed soon after takeoff, killing all 115 people on board.
After that crash, Sudanese officials blamed sanctions for restricting vital aircraft parts. The U.S. State Department said there was no ban on equipment needed for aviation safety.
In 1997, then President Clinton issued an executive order barring the export of goods and technology to Sudan because of the country's "support for international terrorism, ongoing efforts to destabilize neighboring governments, and the prevalence of human rights violations."(The FoxNews.com)
June 10: The fiery wreckage of a commercial jet that went down
upon landing at an airport in the Sudan, Africa.
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